Man Survives Road Traffic Accident after Sustaining Multiple Injuries

by Shrutee K/DNS

Bangalore: Many a times, we encounter situations when we are lost in mid of the road and the navigation apps come to our rescue. On other occasions, on a long drive when we get hungry with no restaurants in the vicinity, we again take help of the navigation app to locate eating joints. However, how many of us park our car to the side before focussing on the app? We multi-task, and often consequences can be fatal.

Take for instance, the case of Rahul (name changed), 27-year-old driver by profession, who had gone out with his friends on a long drive. Unfortunately, Rahul wasn’t on his usual driver’s seat, on that fateful day. Amidst their conversation about locating a place to eat and dipping into the navigation app for direction, the driver lost focus and the car had a sudden collision with another car near Yelahanka. It was 3 in the morning, and though his friends, who were seated in the front, with seat belts buckled, had managed to survive uninjured, Rahul, who was relaxing in the passenger seat at the back, suffered multiple injuries.

His friends immediately rushed him to Columbia Asia Hospital, Hebbal. Later, Rahul was shifted to Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, Yeshwanthpur, for multi-specialty care.

“The patient had sustained aortic transection, diffused axonal injury of the brain, liver and renal injuries. His condition was critical, hence we moved him to our Yeshwanthpur branch as it is a tertiary care hospital. Since, he had suffered traumatic aortic rupture, there was profuse bleeding which could have been fatal,” said Dr. Karthik Vasudevan, Senior Consultant - Interventional Cardiology, Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, Yeshwanthpur. 

When Rahul was admitted in the hospital, he was agitated with low GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale) of about 8/15. He had suffered multiple fractures including bilateral rib fractures and aortic tear of about 7 cms. He also suffered splenic injury, left renal laceration, diffuse axonal injury brain, blood and air leak in the chest. After explaining his critical condition to his family, Rahul was immediately shifted to the emergency room.

“We did aortic stent graft placement to stop the blood loss immediately, after shifting him to Columbia Asia Hospital - Yeshwanthpur. A CT scan of brain and CT polytrauma was done which revealed brain, lung and liver injuries. Other injuries in the patient were medically managed,” explained Dr. Prabhakar Shetty Heggunje, Chief of Cardiology, Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, Yeshwanthpur.

The team of expert doctors at Columbia Asia Hospital, Yeshwanthpur, who were involved in treating Rahul included Dr. Firozahmad H. Torgal, Consultant Emergency Medicine; Dr. Karthik Rao, Consultant - Critical Care Medicine and Anaesthesia; Dr. Pradeep Rangappa, Consultant - Intensive Care Unit; Dr. Mukundan Seshadri, Chief of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery; Dr. Sathish N, Consultant - General Surgery and Bariatric surgery; Dr. Avinash K M, Consultant – Neurosurgery and Dr. Ramraj V N Consultant - General/Gastro/Metabolic Surgeon.

Rahul was admitted in the hospital on 21^st May 2017 and discharged on 12^th June 2017. His health has improved gradually and he is now doing fine with regular follow-ups with his doctors.

One of the reasons that Rahul is safe after suffering multiple injuries is the availability of a multi-speciality tertiary care hospital. The immediate access to rapid trauma care is the key driver to his recovery. “It took three weeks of treatment and medical supervision for my health to recover. The rapid medical trauma care provided at the hospital helped me the most. Now I can walk on my feet and I am slowly gaining the confidence to get back to normal life,” said Rahul.

With the increasing number of road accidents, it is important that people adhere to traffic rules. Engaging in a conversation with friends sitting beside or attending a call while driving can be hazardous to health. Below mentioned are some safety tips to follow while driving:

Be careful while driving

During long drives on the highway, it is advisable for even people occupying the back seat to buckle on the seat belt

Do not speed-up and keep constant pace throughout

Drive with a sense of awareness about the surroundings

Always follow traffic rules, even on empty roads

React immediately in case of any accident

While driving, focus on the path and avoid using mobile phone or talking to people sitting besides

Do not drink and drive

Park your vehicle to side lane before using apps

About Columbia Asia Hospitals Pvt. Ltd.

Columbia Asia Hospitals Pvt. Ltd. is the only company in India to utilize 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) route in the hospital sector.

About Columbia Asia Group of Companies The Columbia Asia Group is owned by more than 150 private equity companies, fund management organizations and individual investors. The group currently operates eleven facilities in India and has presence in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Kolkata, Mysore, Patiala and Pune. The company also operates hospitals in Malaysia (11), Vietnam (3), and Indonesia (3). The Indian management operations are managed from its office in Bangalore.