Unique operation in Lviv: a girl had to sew up her leg backwards

In Lviv, doctors from three cities performed a rare operation - rotational plasty. The unique surgical intervention was performed at St Nicholas Children's Hospital.

Yulia from Ivano-Frankivsk learnt about her dangerous diagnosis - bone cancer - the day before her 18th birthday. She bumped her leg, went to the doctors and after a thorough examination she was diagnosed with stage 2B osteosarcoma," the hospital said.

The girl began to be treated by local oncologists of Ivano-Frankivsk Children's Regional Clinical Hospital. Six sessions of chemotherapy were prescribed, but they did not help.

Further spread of the aggressive tumour could be stopped by urgently removing the affected femur. But Yuli's tumour had already spread to the knee joint, so it was a question of high-level amputation of the leg.

To fight for the girl's quality of life and to keep the limb as functional as possible, doctors from three cities: Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Kyiv joined their efforts.

After several consiliums, they decided to perform a rare operation for Ukraine - rotational plastic surgery.

Rotational pl asty is a surgical intervention in children who have a part of the leg removed along with the knee because of bone cancer. And the lower part of the limb together with the foot is turned 180 degrees and sewn to the femur bone - backwards.

Thus, the foot becomes the knee, which allows to install a functional prosthesis and to preserve the sensitivity and mobility of the limb as much as possible.

Yulia has already returned to Ivano-Frankivsk and continues chemotherapy and her fight against the disease. When the leg is finally healed and the girl has more strength, she will be able to work with a physical therapist and develop her leg.

Then Yulia will have to undergo prosthetics. The function of the removed knee joint will be performed by the foot, thanks to which the girl will be able to get a functional prosthesis and master walking.