Korede Abdullah 
UMUAHIA, Nigeria – A 19-year-old motorcycle accident victim has survived emergency brain surgery at the Abia State Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre in Umuahia after doctors removed more than 100 millilitres of blood clot that was compressing his brainstem.
The successful four-hour operation marked the hospital’s first major brain surgery and was performed after the teenager was brought in on Sunday, October 4, in a deep coma.
The development was disclosed on Tuesday by Abia State Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, during a briefing on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting chaired by Governor Alex Otti.
Commissioner for Health, Professor Enoch Uche, a neurosurgeon, said the patient initially had a Glasgow Coma Scale score of six out of 15, which later deteriorated to five.
He said investigations revealed massive bleeding inside the skull, with the blood compressing the brainstem and creating an urgent need for surgery.
Uche said transferring the patient to another hospital could have placed his life at greater risk because of the severity of his condition. “Because we now have facilities to undertake brain surgery, and then we have brain surgeons in the State employed by His Excellency, that surgery was done,” he said.
The medical team evacuated more than 100 millilitres of blood clot from the patient’s brain during the operation.
Uche said the patient subsequently began moving his limbs and was receiving further treatment and monitoring in the Intensive Care Unit.
The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Chimezie Okwuonu, described the procedure as the facility’s first brain surgery and said the development demonstrated its growing capacity to manage complex cases locally.
He said the hospital now has 28 specialist consultants, compared with one when the current management assumed office, while plans are underway to expand brain and spine surgery services.
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Mirian Gom 
Oluwatobi Adu 