We have either seen or heard of amazing medical stories throughout history but sometimes when you hear about nails stuck in the head of someone of growing different parts of your body in your body, you tend not to believe the stories.
However, here are 8 insane medical procedures that actually happened and that actually saved the victim’s life. From objects stuck in people’s brains to keeping different parts of your body healthy until doctor’s can reattach them, we have it all.
1. Chopsticks in a toddler’s nose
A 2 year old boy was heard by his father screaming in his room in Wuhan, China. The father rushed in the toddler’s bedroom only to find out he managed to insert a chopstick through his nose and in his brain. CAT scans showed that the chopstick traveled 7 cm through the boy’s nose and into his brain but did not cause any severe damage. The toddler is expected to make a full recovery after the surgeons successfully removed the chopstick.
2. The man with two hearts
Tyson Smith from San Diego underwent a serious surgical procedure after suffering from heart and pulmonary hypertension. The medical condition of his heart made a heart transplant too risky but the doctors in San Diego implanted a new heart to work along his failing one. Smith did not only survive the procedure but made a full recovery.
3. Tree trimmer trimming a man’s neck
James Valentine was rushed into hospital with a rather unusual problem: a tree trimmer’s chain got stuck in his neck muscles. Unbelievably, no major arteries were caught by the trimmer and Valentine was able to walk home again after this horrible accident which might have cost him his life.
4. Chronic sinusitis due to dental implant
A woman came to the hospital with reporting pain in the upper part of her face. Doctors diagnosed her with chronic sinusitis but a CAT scan showed the true reason of the sinusitis: a dental implant. The implant was installed in her jaw two years before she reported problems with her sinuses and it appears to have dislodged from its initial place and traveled through the breathing canal.
5. Ears can be grown in your arms
Ears can be grown in your arms, or at least that’s the case of 42 year-old Sherrie Walters who lost her initial ear to cancer. Doctor at Johns Hopkins took rib cartilage and shaped it in the form of an ear and then implanted it into Sherrie’s arm where it grew for four months. The new ear was then attached to Sherrie and the procedure was a success.
6. Horns to save a boy from a lifetime of bullying
George Ashman, age 5 was given two horn-shaped inflatable implants under his forehead so that the doctors can retrieve enough skin to cover up his birthmark. The boy was born with a big red blemish on his forehead and his mother wanted to do something to save him from a lifetime of bullying.
7. The case of Phineas Gage
Phineas Gage lived between 1823 and 1860 and was quite famous during his lifetime as he survived a large iron rod driven through his skull. The incident was also fascinating for the doctors of that era as Gage was a changed person after his left brain lobe was crushed by the rod. However, no autopsy was conducted after his death, 12 years after the accident so doctors could not link the brain damage to any personality changes.
8. An eyeball made out of a tooth
Yes, that’s correct. An insane procedure was made public by Dr. Victor Perez and 60 year old Sharron Thornton was the only one to volunteer. Perez used one of Thornton’s canines as a lens used by the woman’s blind eye to see again. Sharron had been blind for 9 years prior to Perez’s outrageous procedure but can now see again thanks to the doctor.
Leave a Reply