Malala Undergoes Two Surgeries, Recovering Well

Date: Feb-04-2013Malala Yousafzai, 15, the Pakistani schoolgirl who received a bullet wound in the head, has undergone surgery at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, England.

A hospital spokeswoman said that the medical team was "very pleased" with her progress after the operation, which lasted five hours. At that time the patient was said to be awake and talking to staff and family members.

Malala had been shot in the head at point blank range by the Taliban on October 9th, 2012, in an assassination attempt while on her way home on a school bus in Pakistan.

Malala Yousafzai had been campaigning for girls to have access to school education. The Taliban said she had been shot for "promoting secularism". Most of the media in Pakistan reported that she had been shot because she campaigned for the right to be educated.

Before being flown to England for further treatment, she had had a bullet removed from her head by surgeons in Pakistan.

The bullet hit Malala's left brow and travelled underneath her skin instead of penetrating into her skull. The bullet travelled the whole length of the side of her head and into her shoulder. The shock wave shattered the skull's thinnest bone. The soft tissues at the base of her jaw and neck were also badly damaged.
A titanium plate and cochlear implant were attached
As part of the cranial reconstruction technique, a titanium plate and cochlear implant were attached in two surgical procedures on Saturday.

Titanium cranioplasty - the missing area of skull was repaired with a titanium plate that was molded to accurately replicate the skull.

Cochlear implant - this is a small, complex electronic device that helps profoundly deaf people have some sense of sound. It is also used for patients who are severely hard of hearing. Malala has no hearing in her left ear, however, the nerve of hearing is intact. The bullet and its fracture lines destroyed her left eardrum and the delicate bones required for hearing in her left ear. Her right ear is fine.

Doctor Dave Rosser, the hospital's medical director, said Malala had made great progress since arriving in England last year. He described her as:

"A remarkable young woman. She's not naive at all about what happened to her and the situation in terms of her high-profile. She's incredibly determined to continue to speak for her cause."
Video and 3D animation
Part 1 - this video illustrates how the plate was made. The 3D images and scans came from Malala's medical records. They show her skull and the damaged area. Stefan Edmondson, the hospital's Principal Maxillofacial Prosthetist, shows the part-skull model of Malala and her titanium plate, which was fitted during surgery.

Part 2 - a 3D imagine was created from the patient's CT scans when she first came to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. One can see the tracheostomy tube (which allowed her to breathe). In the animation, the viewer can see the extent of the skull damage.

Part 3 - this footage explains how the cochlear implant and titanium plate were fitted. A red line is drawn diagonally down the skull, illustrating the trajectory of the bullet.

Written by Christian Nordqvist

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