As told by Dr. Jhapat Bahadur Thapa, MBBS
One morning a young sixteen year-old girl was brought down to the clinic from her village Ghajura, over two hours walk away. She had carried by a group of ten people from her village, as she had been unable to walk herself for two months. She complained of pain in her right leg, and it was clear upon examination that there was heavy swelling.
Her family had believed that the planets were negatively affecting her. They had been bringing her to a faith healer or “dhaami,” but with no sign of improvement. Without the use of her leg, a fever, and loss of appetite, she had been essentially bed-ridden for two months. She had also been examined at her nearby government sub-health post, where she was prescribed a course of antibiotics by a local health assistant.
Dr. Jhapat immediately recognized that there was a collection of pus gathering in the swollen leg, and more antibiotics would do more harm than good without first draining the abscess. Owing to the size of the abscess, the nurse midwife on duty administered ketamine for conscious sedation and monitored the girl’s pulse. Dr. Jhapat made the incisions necessary to drain the abscess. It took him less than 10 minutes to drain over a liter (33 ounces) of pus from the girl’s leg and shortly thereafter she was ready to be carried back to her village.
“It was a very rewarding case for me and very easy to treat,” says Dr. Thapa. “She was carried to the clinic by ten people and was probably able to walk again in two or three days.” Abscesses are very common in this area, Dr. Thapa explains, as people don’t usually seek treatment as soon as they should. Delays in care can lead to the loss of a limb or even death.
