Life-changing operation for student

THE LIFE of a 21-year-old student from Pampierstad was changed after a seven-hour operation at Lenmed Royal Hospital and Heart Centre in Kimberley, which made it possible for her to open her mouth for the first time in 16 years. The student, who survived a serious accident at the age of five, can now open her mouth from 0 to 5cm.

The patient underwent a bilateral temporomandibular joints (TMJ) operation, performed by maxillofacial surgeon Dr Irshaad Abdoola and his team.

The procedure included bilateral TMJ gap arthroplasty with interpositional grafts, abdominal fat harvesting and bilateral coronoidectomies.

This was the first procedure of this magnitude performed at Lenmed hospital in Kimberley.