Just hours after Roy Horn was mauled by one of his tigers, doctors reportedly removed a portion of the Las Vegas illusionist’s skull. Recent reports note that the fragment was implanted in a pouch in Horn’s abdomen. Why place a piece of skull in someone’s stomach?
So it can be returned to the patient’s head when the moment is right. The procedure that Horn reportedly underwent has alternately been referred to as either a decompressive craniectomy or a hemicraniectomy.
This report states that you are talking about two different proceedures. One more radical than the other.
The portion of the skull that is removed can be stored in the abdomen, not the stomach, to keep the bone viable. I have a good friend who had this proceedure performed on her although her skull was not stored in her body. It was later re-attached to her skull.
Yeah, I’ve been following this since it happened–the hemicraniectomy and the decompressive craniectomy are definitely different procedures, which I was glad to hear because the hemicraniectomy doesn’t have a very good prognosis (for a good quality of life, anyway–many who undergo it survive but have to spend their lives in care facilities).
Qburn, if you don’t mind my asking, how was your friend’s recovery? I’ve been a Siegfried and Roy fan for a long time (mostly Roy, because of the tigers) and would love some encouraging news about his chances of a full recovery.
winterhawk11 ,
My friend survives, but she needs constant care. I cannot tell if she is aware of her surroundings or not.
Although I’m not privy to the exact details of her care, family members have told me that they think the doctors performed the procedure too late, maybe 48 hours or more after the onset of her stroke, that the damage was already done.
Apparently, they can save brain function with this procedure, and I imagine in Roy’s case how quickly they were able to relieve pressure, and what type of stroke it was, would be some of the determining factors.
Qburn,
I’m very sorry to hear about your friend, and hope I didn’t cause you any discomfort by asking.
I think you might be right about the timeframe–I believe in Roy’s case the procedure was performed on October 4, only hours after the injury occurred. Last I read he was paralyzed on his left side, but the doctors are saying this could be temporary.
I remember hearing about another famous (or maybe semi-famous) person who had this procedure done not too long ago, but I can’t remember who it was and Google searches aren’t turning up anything useful.
I remember the story of some cosmetic surgeon that mangled his hand. The doctors implanted his hand into his abdomen so that it’s richer blood supply could help heal the hand.
Don’t remember where I saw this (and it may have been in some fine bastion of journalistic excellence like the Weekly World News) but there was supposedly a man whose ear was severed in an automobile accident who also suffered an abdominal injury. A paramedic at the scene tucked the severed ear into the abdominal wound, and it was later re-attached.
Someone else famous just had this procedure, but I’ll be damned if I can remember who.
Also, the dude that had his hand re-attached had it sewn to his chest to increase blood flow. Creepy, but evidently very effective. I’d rather have a thumb job than a head job any day. Well…you know what I mean.
