DMCH forms medical board for surgery on tree man's hand

A six-member medical board, formed yesterday to discuss Bangladeshi tree man, Abul Bajandar's treatment, decided to start a multi-stage plastic surgery on the patient's hands in about three weeks.

“The patient appears malnourished and is still too weak for immediate surgery,” said Dr Sen, a physician and coordinator of Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where Abul, suffering from the rare tree man illness, was admitted yesterday.

Abul, 26, hailing from Khulna, has tree trunk like warts, almost weighing four kilogrammes on both his hands and feet. As a result, he cannot carry out any function with his hands.

Doctors are planning surgery on his hands to bring some level of functionality, by removing extra flesh from the thumb and the index fingers.

Medical examination of the patient, including blood tests, and biopsy will start today, said Sen.

Meanwhile, many foreign doctors and researchers have taken interest in Abul's case and are contacting the DMCH.

They wish to help find a solution to the incurable skin disorder, whereby warts triggered by a virus becomes thickened and hardened into horns and branch out from the skin.

“An American doctor emailed us today asking for blood and biopsy sample of the patient,” said Dr Sen, adding that medical specialists from other countries also offered their help.

“Doctors said I might need to stay here for six months,” Abul said, now at a DMCH cabin. However, he is not getting enough rest because of curious visitors, who throng his cabin day long.

Dr Sen said Ansar members would be deployed today to control the crowd.

Abul's mother and sister accompanied him to Dhaka on Friday. His wife Halima and three-year-old daughter Tahera will be taken to the city to be by his side, he said.