Miracle ‘baby’ as fully pregnant mother gets paralyzed in road accident

Doctors at Indian Spinal Injuries Center deliver first ever baby at the hospital after treating the mother severely paralyzed following a road accident during the eighth month of her pregnancy. Both patient and the unborn baby could have been lost in the condition that the patient was presented to the doctors

 An exemplary case of a woman paralyzed in a road accident in her eight month of pregnancy was treated by doctors at Indian Spinal Injuries Centre in New Delhi.

The 30-year-old patient was 31 weeks pregnant and suffered a near-fatal car crash while travelling from Delhi to Chandigarh on the highway.

She was in the front seat and didn’t use her seat belt.

The impact of the accident resulted in:

Severe cervical injury at C5 and C6 levels of her spine

Result: She was paralyzed completely and increased the chances of endangering her baby and her life.

Dr. H S Chhabra, Chief of Spine Service & Medical Director, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre explained, “The patient could not be placed on her back as the critical injury was in her spine. She could not be placed on her stomach as she was carrying a fully developed fetus. She was immediately taken in for surgery and the pressure on her spinal cord had to be dealt with. In this case we had to ensure that the baby in the womb was also safe.”

The doctors explained that there was spinal cord compression which occurred due to pressure on the cord caused by bone fragments and ruptured discs. Dr Chhabra explained, “The patient came with a type of paralysis due to the injury caused by the impact of the accident. She had to be taken up immediately to ensure that her limbs and torso were not affected for life.”

Surgical intervention was broken down to ensure that the mother and child were safe. Dr Chhabra explained, “We first reduced the dislocation in the spine by skeletal traction. This was done by applying increasing weights to pull the dislocated vertebrae. Achieving reduction using traction before surgery simplified the surgery by removing the pressure on the spinal cord, and after that, we waited another 4 days in order to enable the patient reach 32 weeks of pregnancy. This ensured a much better prognosis for the child, even in case of premature delivery precipitated by the spine fixation surgery. During the surgery, we could not place the patient on her back or on her stomach; we had to put her laterally during the surgery. The disc between C4 and C5 levels of the spine was removed; a cage and a bone graft were placed in between and fixed with a plate so that the vertebrae are fused with each other. The surgery went uneventful, and post surgery, rehabilitation including physiotherapy and occupational therapy was initiated.”

She recovered from her paralysis in two months. A team of senior obstetricians at ISIC led by Dr. Rachna Verma, Senior Gynecologist and Obstetrician intensive foetal monitoring was also taken up to deal with the high-risk pregnancy, before and after the spine fixation surgery.

Dr. Rachna Verma, Senior Gynecologist and Obstetrician, ISIC says, “Traumatic life event complicates one in every 12 pregnancies, and is said to be the leading cause of fetal death related to maternal trauma. Motor vehicle accidents are among the commonest traumatic events witnessed.”

The first child of the couple was delivered safely and the mother is also doing well.