Successful Salvage of Leg in a Post-covid Patient With Thrombosis in the Arteries of Leg

~ Doctors at Gleneagles Global Health City perform a high-risk surgery to avoid the risk of amputation in a patient from Pollachi

19^th July, 2021, Chennai: Gleneagles Global Health City (GGHC), a leading multi-speciality centre in Chennai, successfully treated and salvaged the leg of a 52 year old woman who recently recovered from Covid-19 and had developed thrombosis (blood clots) in the arteries of her right leg, which led to severe ischemia and imminent gangrene of foot. This would have resulted in eventual amputation of leg if not treated effectively on time.

The 52 year old woman, from Pollachi, had tested positive for Covid-19 and underwent 2 weeks of treatment in local hospital. She later developed leg pain but was referred by a local physician only when her leg worsened after a week. The patient was brought to GGHC with severe pain, lack of sensation and absent pulses in her right leg. Her toes were dusky with features of imminent gangrene. Her pre-existing diabetes and obesity worsened the arterial blood clot formation, mainly because of recent Covid infection and caused resistance to various other therapies, raising the risk for amputation of leg and other serious complications.

On further analysis of her CT scan and angiogram reports, it revealed that she had developed blood clots in the blood vessels supplying her right leg, post her Covid recovery which obstructed the supply of blood to the leg. Additionally, the reports also showed another blood clot in Aorta, the major blood vessel which carries the blood from the heart to other organs.

She was later wheeled in for a surgical procedure to remove the blood clots from the blood vessels through incisions in the right groin and behind the knee. All the blood clots including the clots in major blood vessel were removed in this procedure. The team of doctors from GGHC including Dr I. Rajkumar, Senior Consultant – Vascular Surgeon, Dr Madhurima – Senior Anaesthetist and the OT staff were involved in treating the patient successfully.

Normally, these conditions would result in high risk of amputation, as the leg would have to be surgically removed in order to save the life. The timely diagnosis and immediate intervention by the team of experts at GGHC saved her life and the leg. She was administered with anticoagulation medications along with other treatments for her condition to stabilize. Since she was recovering from Covid, she was assessed by a multi-disciplinary team of doctors comprising of Diabetologist, Cardiologist and Pulmonologist.

Speaking further about the case, Dr. I. Rajkumar, Senior Consultant Vascular Surgeon, Gleneagles Global Health City, Chennai said, “Appropriate intervention by clinicians can salvage the limb and save the life of a patient. In this case, the challenging aspect was to salvage the leg in patient with recent Covid infection who had presented to us very late. There has been a significant spike in the cases of amputation of limbs in India due to covid-19 resulting in vascular diseases. It is extremely crucial to address vascular diseases within the golden period (12-24 hours of ischemia). Discolouration of extremities, leg pain and loss of sensation are the red flags that need immediate clinical intervention. All high risk patients should be given anticoagulant medicines post discharge after Covid infection and low risk patients must be given anti-platelet medicines to prevent formation of blood clot.

The patient had a speedy recovery and her sensation, pulses and circulation of blood were restored quickly after the procedure. She started walking with support on the third day after her surgery. She went back home after a week with her foot and all toes intact and with a big smile!”

Praising the team on the accomplishment of the case, Dr. Alok Khullar, CEO, Gleneagles Global Health City, Chennai said, “The Covid 19 pandemic has given rise to various complications in patients and this lady would have had disability for life if not for the rapid and accurate diagnosis and timely intervention of our expert team of Doctors. I am proud to be part of such a distinguished team.”

About Gleneagles Global Health City, Perumbakkam, Chennai:

Gleneagles Global Health City at Perumbakkam, Chennai is one of India’s most renowned multi-organ transplant centre. It’s also one of the top tertiary care multi-speciality hospitals in the city with path-breaking Liver, Neuro, Heart, Lung and Kidney procedures to its credit and legacy. The NABH, NABL and NABB accredited hospital operates 200+ beds. A modern CathLab, 13 operation theatres, advanced imaging services (Trubeam STX, Slice PET CT and Tesla MRI) offer cutting edge emergency and critical care management following internationally approved clinical protocols.

Over 10 years of clinical excellence has earned the hospital tie-ups with all major cashless health insurance players and is the preferred choice hospital by all major corporates in the city. The hospital is an international medical destination for thousands of patients in India, Middle East, Africa and SAARC nations. The hospital also offers VideoConsult services to its patients in India and abroad.

Gleneagles Global Health City is a part of IHH Healthcare, one of the world’s largest healthcare providers. With its full spectrum of integrated services, dedicated people, reach and scale, and commitment to quality and safety, IHH aspires to be the world’s most trusted healthcare services network, united by a single purpose: to touch lives and transform care. More information on Gleneagles Global Health City can be found at hospital website.

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For further information, kindly contact

Akriti Gupta | 8754940305 | [email protected]  

Sushma Mathen | 9962715769 | [email protected]