Long wait for accident victims at AIIMS: RTI reply

Deccan Herald: New Delhi: Monday, May 28, 2012.

The wait for accident victims to get treated at the AIIMS Trauma Centre may vary from six to 15 months depending on the nature of injury.

According to an RTI reply given by Dr Sanjeev Lalwani, Central Public Information Officer at the Jai Prakash Narayan Trauma Centre, the waiting list for treatment of brachial plexus injury is 531 days and cranioplasty is 188 days. The brachial plexus is a network of nerves that conducts signals from the spinal cord, which is housed in the spinal canal of the vertebral column (or spine), to the shoulder, arm and hand.

Brachial plexus injury can be caused as a result of shoulder trauma, tumours or inflammation and such victims lose the functioning in their upper limbs due to internal nerve damage.

A neurosurgeon with AIIMS Trauma Centre said, “Nerve reconstruction surgery offers the only hope of restoration of some of the lost functions in cases where spontaneous recovery does not occur. Results depend upon the severity of the injury, age of the patient and the delay after the accident.”

Results are always better when the surgery is performed at an earlier stage. If done after six or nine months, the damage is irreversible and there is no recovery.

Another neurosurgeon with AIIMS said, “The waiting list for such injuries with us is more than two years. The waiting list is a result of increasing footfall at AIIMS as all wish to be treated here.”