Nov 3, 2006 9:31 am US/Mountain
Doctors Give Quadruple Amputee Better Prosthetic
DENVER (CBS4) ―
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Manuel Salazar lost all four of his limbs in a construction accident 3 years ago. A new procedure at Presbyterian Saint Luke's will help him get a new prosthetic arm and walk easier on prosthetic legs.
CBS
A medical breakthrough at a Denver hospital means a man who lost all four of his limbs in a construction accident 3 years ago has hope for a better future.
Manuel Salazar, 26, couldn't even walk when he arrived at
Presbyterian Saint Luke's Medical Center. Doctors were able to fit him with stubbies.
Walking was still difficult because he didn't have arms for balance.
Salazar was fitted with a big
prosthetic arm that had to be strapped to his body.
Doctors knew that if they could rebuild at least part of his right arm, he would be able to lift a lighter and more mobile prosthetic.
They performed the operation 3 weeks ago using a donated cadaver bone.
"Literally just bolted it on to what was left of his shoulder joint and then wrapping the muscle from his back around his new arm," said Dr. Ross Wilkins of the Denver Clinic for Extremities at Risk.
"I think it will make a big difference," Salazar said. "If I fall, at least I can reach out and catch myself,"
When Salazar gets a new prosthetic arm, he will be able to walk on longer prosthetic legs.
His surgery at PSL was the second time doctors have done that type of procedure. Doctors at PSL aren't aware of it being done anywhere else in the world.
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