Another young woman has done Saudi Arabia proud when she made a breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes-induced gangrene of the limbs that will help patients reduce their chances of requiring surgical amputation or reduce the suffering of patients that must undergo surgical amputation.
In an interview with Hia magazine, Dr. Nurah Ahmad Rashad said that her method helps improve the functioning level of the nerves and arteries in patients with gangrene-affected bones.
“While healthy bones can withstand any illness, the leg bones of a diabetic will be malfunctioning with fragile arteries and very low immunity level,” she said. “During my experiments I came up with the idea of making an experimental amputation of the gangrene-affected toe of a patient in such a way that the external shape of the toe would be preserved after the diseased bone was removed. The advantage of this method is that the appearance of the foot would not be seriously affected and its functioning would improve.”
Nurah said this style of amputation makes a world of difference for the patients because it does not leave any mental shock in them while the functions of the leg are nearly normal. The patient doesn’t require special shoes or other rehabilitation devices after the surgery.
The young doctor said that an unforgettable experience she witnessed while working as an intern at the Al-Qasr Al-Ayni Hospital in Cairo pushed her to dedicate her studies to mitigate the sufferings of amputated patients.
“On a night when I was on duty at the emergency ward, an Egyptian family brought in a young lady in a state of nasty diabetic gangrene,” she said. “She required an emergency amputation of her leg. Weeks before she was brought there, doctors at some other leading hospitals in the city had recommended the surgery. But her parents, who were worried about her marriage, wanted to take her to Italy in order to avoid the amputation and the accompanying deformity. However, the bureaucratic delay in getting the travel documents ready led to the aggravation of her condition. She fell into a coma and was rushed to our hospital. I performed the amputation of her leg successfully but was shocked by the patient’s and her parents’ disappointment at the prospect of being a cripple.”
Her studies on amputation were made under the supervision of Dr. Muhammad Qadri Mustafa, professor of General and Plastic Surgery in the College of Medicine at Cairo University, and Dr. Emilio Calabrese, director of the National Center for Limb Salvage in Milano, Italy. She acquired considerable skill in bone amputation during her internship under the internationally known surgeon, Dr. Magdi Yakub. When she continued her studies in Italy she got familiar with the amputation and the techniques of limb protection.
Artery-related disorders such as neuropathy are at the root of various complications leading to increased fatality in diabetics.
Nurah studied 50 diabetic patients with foot complaints. Thirty-nine of the samples showed that the arteries of their legs were malfunctioning. Twenty-five of them were treated with certain medical intervention while the remaining 14 were subjected to traditional surgery of artery.
Born in a family of doctors, Nurah studied medicine in Cairo University specializing in surgery after the school education in Riyadh. “In my willingness to face challenges, I am deeply influenced by my father Ahmad Rashad who in his capacity as the director of the criminal laboratories, had to grapple with various complicated problems and find solutions for them.”
Nurah said her dream is to establish a center for the rescue of the diabetes patients in the Kingdom from the amputation of limbs.
