When the chance is to save a leg. A unique operation in Tatarstan and the rarest case in Russia
In April, a young woman's leg began to hurt.
At first, it was dragging, almost imperceptibly, "like a nerve." She worked as a pediatrician and, as is often the case with doctors, did not attach importance to the pain - she attributed it to stress and fatigue.
But the pain didn't go away.
And then a diagnosis was made that instantly changes the usual reality: sarcoma.
While the biopsy material was sent to the federal center to clarify the diagnosis, the disease did not wait. The tumor was destroying the femur, and soon one of the most serious complications occurred — a pathological fracture.
In such situations, medical tactics in most cases involve amputation, a solution that allows you to stop the process, but seriously affects the patient's quality of life.
The RCOD of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tatarstan named after Prof. M.Z.Segal understood the scale of the risks. But we also saw something else — the potential for struggle. So, there was a chance.
A consultation was held. The decision made at it cannot be called a standard one: to start chemotherapy, despite the fracture, without waiting for all the federal conclusions.
Head of the Chemotherapy Department No. 1 Rustem Nurislamovich Safin:
"Our task was to stop the tumor process, assess the dynamics and save the opportunity for the next surgical stage of treatment."
The treatment was going to be long and difficult — practically without movement. The leg was fixed with an orthosis for limb stability. Nevertheless, already against the background of chemotherapy, we managed to achieve an important result: the pain syndrome significantly decreased, and it became possible to get up and walk with an orthosis.
Rehabilitologists joined the work.
Recovery was gradual, step by step, with an emphasis on regaining control of movement and preparing for the next stage of treatment.