The profession of a military surgeon requires from a specialist not only high skill, but also, quite often, making important decisions on which a person's life depends. We want to tell you about a real case from the practice of Soviet surgeons, when the fate of not only the patient, but also the doctors themselves depended on the skills and knowledge of doctors.
The operation carried out in a military hospital in Dushanbe in September 1986 is absolutely unique. Throughout the history of medicine, such a surgical intervention has not been performed anywhere in the world, and Soviet doctors had to independently develop a methodology for its implementation and even design instruments.
Soldier Vitaly Grabovenko during a battle with Afghan mujahideen equipped a grenade launcher belt and was wounded. The fighter received first aid on the spot and then was sent by plane to a military hospital in Dushanbe. There, Vitaly's numerous shrapnel wounds were treated and X-rays were taken, which did not reveal any additional problems.
Vitaly Grabovenko at the hospital.
Grabovenko's injury was not considered serious and he had to quickly recover. But this did not happen - the wound in the area of the right shoulder did not want to heal, and the arm lost its mobility. The doctors suggested that the intermuscular hematoma was to blame and decided to conduct a repeated X-ray.
The second X-ray showed that the tissues contained an object measuring 11 by 3 centimeters, which the doctors could not recognize. The photograph was shown to the military, undergoing treatment in the hospital, and two of them - a grenade launcher and a sapper - recognized the object as a grenade, which, among other things, is also on a combat platoon.
Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service Yuri Alekseevich Vorobyov.
Experts warned that the ammunition could explode at any moment from accidental movement. For the doctors, this news was a shock - Vitaly Grabovenko had already been in the department for two weeks, moved around the hospital on his own and even once tried to play table tennis. The fact that the grenade did not detonate was a real miracle, but you could no longer rely on it.
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It was necessary to urgently carry out an operation and remove a dangerous object from the soldier's body. A medical council gathered, at which it was decided that a unique and incredibly dangerous operation would be performed by the head of the hospital, Yuri Alekseevich Vorobiev, and that surgeon Alexander Dorokhin would assist him. Vladimir Moiseikin was entrusted with anesthesia, and it was decided not to involve nurses in view of the special danger of the operation.
Doctor Vorobyov is preparing for a dangerous operation.
All three doctors were well aware of the risk they were taking and knew that they might die. Vorobyov was the father of two children, and his wife was expecting a third child at that time, Moiseikin was also a young father, and Dorokhin got married just a month ago. Despite this, none of the doctors hesitated for a second, making a difficult choice.
Preparation for the operation was carried out in an emergency mode, taking into account the existing explosion hazard. The patient was placed in a separate ward, into which the nurses entered only in bulletproof vests. Special protective suits were brought for the doctors, in which the sappers carry out mine clearance. This outfit weighed 40 kg and was not very comfortable, especially given the 40-degree heat that reigned then in Dushanbe.
Before starting the operation.
To maximize the safety of the surgeons, the factory urgently made special tools - clamps with a guard, like a sword hilt. In the event of an explosion, the steel protection should have at least slightly reduced the damaging effect of the fragments. It was decided to carry out the operation in a treatment room, and keep the adjacent operating room ready in case an explosion still occurs and the doctors themselves need help. Blood was also prepared for transfusion to all participants in the operation.
Tools used to retrieve the grenade.
There were two ways to extract the grenade. The easiest way was to cut it out, but Dr. Vorobyov immediately ruled out this option. In this case, the risk of an explosion would be less, but the young guy would forever remain disabled with a motionless hand. It was decided to get the grenade through a neat cut - it was incredibly dangerous, but it kept the limb working.
At the bedside of a convalescent patient.
The operation, the progress of which was monitored even in Moscow, was successful. The surgeons managed to carefully remove a deadly foreign body from the patient's muscles, which was immediately handed over to the sappers. Vitaliy Grabovenko was transferred to an ordinary ward, where he came to himself and saw his father who had flown to Dushanbe from the distant Chernigov region.
A pomegranate extracted from the body of Grabovenko.
It is interesting that the operation can be considered Vitaly's second birth in the literal sense, since on that day he turned 20 years old. Father and son decided not to tell Vitaly's wife about what had actually happened and informed her that it was just an appendicitis removal. A couple of months later, when the wounds healed, Grabovenko went home.
During the fighting in Afghanistan, doctors performed many feats, but this one was special. The story of the demining of a living person was published in dozens of Soviet newspapers, it was talked about on the radio and in television news, it was told to children at school. But very quickly, this incredible example of the dedication of Soviet doctors was forgotten and today they hardly talk about it.