Complex Surgery
We all do it. The parts of our body that do so much for us – helping us eat, bathe, write, work and play – receive very little attention from us. We give little thought to how much we rely upon our hands; then one day, intense pain becomes a signal that something is quite wrong.
“The pain started after I was on a canopy ride in Puerto Vallarta,” said Rajvi Patel, a 22-year-old pharmacy student. During her canopy ride, Rajvi grasped a pulley that allowed her to glide along a cable connected to a series of tree platforms in a tropical forest. It was meant to be a highlight of the December 2007 family vacation.
“The pain was terrible,” Rajvi continued. “I couldn’t use my hand for a few days.”
Once they returned home, Rajvi came to Loyola. And that’s where they met Randy Bindra, MD, FRCS, professor, orthopaedic surgery and rehabilitation, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, and orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in treating conditions and problems that occur in the hand.
“When she came to see me, there was only a slight blue mass in her palm, and these typically will appear and disappear depending on how much a person is using the hand,” said Dr. Bindra. “I knew I was seeing the tip of the iceberg, and I was quite sure that she had a venous malformation.”
Venous malformations are rare birth defects that can occur in fingers, arms, the face, the brain and elsewhere. Rajvi’s condition meant she had more veins in her hand than normal – hundreds of extra and malformed veins. During the previous few years, she would occasionally notice a bump in her palm. Sometimes it would be uncomfortable, but she had never before experienced pain like this.
An MRI exam during Rajvi’s 2008 spring break confirmed Dr. Bindra’s diagnosis. The images showed how deep the tangled network of blood-filled veins extended under, on and around healthy tissue. To fix her problem, Dr. Bindra needed to perform extremely delicate surgery.
“First we must identify all of the normal blood vessels so we are sure to preserve circulation to the fingers, nerves and muscles throughout the hand,” explained Dr. Bindra. “We then carefully peel away each unnecessary vein.”
Dr. Randy Bindra’s use of innovative hand reconstruction techniques — shared with fellow surgeons worldwide — can be the difference between full functionality and no functionality. He and his hand surgery colleagues treat problems associated with arthritis, nerve compression (such as carpal tunnel syndrome), traumatic injuries and many more conditions in adults and children.
“A case such as Rajvi’s illustrates that you need a physician who only focuses on the hand’s complex mechanics and structures,” said Dr. Bindra. “If you have a problem with a hand, ask your primary care physician to send you to a hand specialist who is adept at all aspects of medicine – orthopaedics, plastic surgery, vascular surgery, microsurgery – needed to treat the problem.”
Rajvi had her surgery last August, just before returning to college. She started using her hand fully in September and has been pleased with the results and her interactions with the Loyola team.
“Overall, it was a really good experience,” she said. “Everything was efficient, they made me feel as comfortable as possible, and everyone was really friendly. The fact that my hand is perfectly fine now makes me feel really good.”
Before her surgery, Rajvi would put aside two of her passions, painting and weightlifting, because she didn’t have the time to manage the pain that would follow. Today Rajvi is enjoying life again.
“I’m able to do everything. I’m lifting weights, I’m painting with watercolors and acrylics, and I’m looking forward to doing them more often. The people at Loyola understood how important it is to be able to live your life.”
For more information on Loyola’s hand surgery and rehabilitation, or to schedule an appointment, please call (888) LUHS-888.
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM
