Following injuries experienced in an automobile accident, a 43-year-old lady from Monroe County, New York, was on the verge of losing her legs.
After numerous physicians told her that her leg would have to be amputated,
she received a second opinion utilizing a novel technique that printed her a 3D bone.
Last summer,
the 43-year-life old’s was turned upside down when she was involved in an automobile accident on Highway 25 in Saylorsburg.
“I was in a horrible vehicle accident, my foot hit the car’s firewall,
and I had an open fracture of the ankle, the bone traumatically displaced,
which means it left my body and no one knew what happened to it, so it’s still a mystery,”
Rebecca explained.
Chopek was evacuated to a local hospital,
where physicians told her that amputation was the best option.
A Novel hope
Dr James Lachman, an orthopaedic foot and ankle surgeon at St. Luke’s told her
that he could preserve her limb using revolutionary Additive Manufacturing technology
after she spent ten days in the hospital investigating other possibilities.
“I was fortunate enough to learn about this early, probably five or six years ago,
and it’s a surgical solution that has revolutionized this particular damage,” Dr James Lachman said.
Using a CT scan of her other ankle,
Dr Lachman was able to print her a metal 3D Talus bone.
It took 2-3 weeks
for the printing to be completed.
“This technology is, in my opinion,
taking off throughout the country, with foot and ankle physicians
adopting it for a variety of ailments that have plagued us over the years,” says the author “Lachman stated.
Chopek says she has regained her range of motion and is around 80% back to normal movement
after receiving the 3D printed bone.
“He’s a blessing in my life.”
When he gave me that Alternative, he saved my leg, my emotional health,
and a lot of me that day “Chopek stated.
Patients with avascular necrosis or bone excursion,
in which the blood supply to the bone is disrupted, are ideal candidates, according to him.
Source: Fox56
