A 25-year-old woman who was attacked with acid by her spurned lover is back in the ICU with doctors saying “anything can happen at anytime.”
On April 28, Nagesh Babu threw about half-kilo of sulphuric acid on the woman on the doorsteps of a gold loan company in Sunkadakatte where she worked.
She suffered 36% burns. Babu was apprehended from Tiruvannamalai, a temple town in Tamil Nadu, where he had disguised himself as a swami at an ashram.
The woman was admitted to St John’s Medical College Hospital. She was treated in the intensive care for many days before being shifted to the ward. But she was taken back into the ICU a few days ago.
Dr Arvind Kasthuri, Chief of Medical Services at the hospital, said that while the woman was conscious, alert and responsive, she did have some complications.
“With a patient who has had 36% burns, anything can happen at anytime. When burn victims lose skin surface, the tissue fluid oozes. The blood composition starts to suffer. There is a continuous loss of proteins and electrolytes. They develop different kinds of complications after a week or 10 days,” he explained.
The acid attack survivor has developed a slight fever, which probably means infection, because the skin surface is out. “Any passing bacteria can just get in. She needed oxygen support, and has been in the ICU for a few days now. We continue to monitor her condition and change her dressings in the OT. Her condition is not fully stable. Anything can happen at anytime,” he said.
According to Dr Kasthuri, the patient has some complications setting in possible infection and low protein levels in the blood. “It’s a difficult case. We can’t say anything with certainty. People with more percentage of burns may have recovered and people with lesser percentage may not have recovered. It depends on how the body deals with it but anything more than 30% is excessive because one-third of the skin is gone,” Dr Kasthuri said.