Doctors at the Saudi German Hospital Makkah successfully treated a patient who regained his ability to walk after a fall from a height, which shattered his heel bone into nine fragments.
Typically, eight out of 10 patients with this kind of injury do not fully recover.
The patient, while vacationing at an archaeological site, slipped from a high point. He was initially taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors placed a plaster cast on his suspected fracture.
Upon returning to Jeddah, he sought additional medical attention at another hospital. Unfortunately, the doctors there misdiagnosed his injury, dismissing the fracture and advising him to keep the plaster cast on. This incorrect treatment worsened his condition.
The patient’s mother persuaded him to seek a second opinion at Saudi German Hospital Makkah the advanced diagnostic capabilities of its doctors.
Dr. Muhammad Abdullah Mahfouz, an orthopedic and joint surgeon, along with the medical team, decided to repair the fracture through a bone graft and artificial bone implantation.
After a CT scan, the doctors discovered a severe heel fracture of nine fragments, leading them to conduct a bone graft from the pelvic bones.
This procedure addressed the patient’s persistent swelling and pain, stabilized the fractured heel, restored its normal function and ultimately regained full mobility in the foot.
