Mexican Surgery Saves the Leg of a Patient with Cancer

NEWS RELEASE

Mexican Surgery Saves the Leg of a Patient with Cancer

• Specialists of the Regional Hospital of High Specialty “Dr. Juan Graham Casasús” in Mexico performed the successful surgery.

• The prosthesis was bought with resources of the Popular Insurance.

Two years after having developed osteosarcoma –the most common type of bone cancer among boys- in his right leg, the young man José Trinidad Hernández Hernández recovered his daily life after having a surgery in which an unconventional prosthesis was implanted. In this way, the amputation of his leg was avoided.

Lorenzo Pacheco Bautista, Director General of the Regional Hospital of High Specialty “Dr. Juan Graham Casasús” in Mexico informed that this surgery was possible thanks to the resources of the Popular Insurance, with which the prosthesis that allows the patient to walk was bought.

María de Jesús Hernández Hernández, mother of the young man, said that at 14 his son began to have pain and eventually this pain grew until it was impossible for him to walk anymore.

“Our lives changed when the traumatologist, Julio César Ávalos Santiago, told me that my son’s leg was not going to be amputated because they would try to get a prosthesis. The implant was very expensive and thanks to the aid that we received from the Popular Insurance, my son was able to recover satisfactorily”, María de Jesús Hernández said.

The Coordinator of the Traumatology and Orthopedic Service, Julio César Ávalos Santiago, who also performed the surgery, explained that it is possible to save the limb with this type of surgical procedure –implanting an unconventional prosthesis- in order to preserve its functionality.

This type of surgeries is not frequent in Mexico because of the low prevalence of the illness and the high cost of the prostheses.

He said that the young man is stable and he will be monitored with external consultations to evaluate the functionality of the prosthesis. Finally, he said that the Traumatology Area of the Hospital counts with highly qualified doctors, with certifications in force and with wide medical capacity. This makes it possible for the Hospital to treat other types of tumors that are not cancerous but that also attack the bone.

Highlights:

• The Regional Hospital of High Specialty “Dr. Juan Graham Casasús” was founded in 1938. It is based in Tabasco, one of the states that form part of the Mexican Republic. The Hospital treats complex chronic diseases related to metabolic syndrome, infectious diseases and cancer in all modalities including treatment, surgery, chemotherapy, conventional radiation and intraoperative radiotherapy.

• The Social Health Protection System (Popular Insurance Scheme) in Mexico seeks to provide health service coverage, through voluntary, public insurance for persons that are not affiliated to any social security institution. Members of families affiliated to the Social Health Protection System through Popular Insurance will have access to the medical, surgical, pharmaceutical and hospital services that fully satisfy their health needs. The Popular Insurance Scheme currently provides coverage for 275 medical operations, described in the Universal Health Service Catalogue.

All MHM news releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.salud.gob.mx

Follow Secretary Mercedes Juan on Twitter @_MJuan_

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