The hand of a young girl who was admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital due to fever was amputated by the doctors yesterday (4). The girl was suffering from fever for about four days and was treated by a private doctor, but as she was not better, the girl was brought to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital on the Sunday (3) night.
After the girl was admitted to the hospital, the nurse in charge of the ward fixed a cannula in the girl’s hand and gradually her hand started to become numb and disabled. After immediately informing the doctors about this, the specialists have decided that in order to save the girl’s life, her arm should be removed immediately. Accordingly, the girl was taken to the operating theatre and the hand was amputated.
The girl is eight years old and is in Grade 3 at Jaffna Hindu College. She is a resident of Mallakam area of Jaffna.
Commenting on this matter, Northern Provincial Health Services Director Dr. P. Sathyamurthy stated that such an incident has taken place at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
The Director of Northern Province Health Services said that a committee of two doctors has been appointed to find out whether this situation arose due to a fault in the cannula or if there was any other reason and a conclusion regarding the incident can be reached as soon as the report of the committee is received.
Rasula Dilhara Gamage Northern Province Special