A Jamshedpur-based private hospital has claimed to have successfully conducted a spinal compression surgery on a 23-year-old woman, who had fallen from a speeding auto-rickshaw in September last year, but has now recovered after the operation performed in December.

Kantilal Gandhi Memorial Hospital (KGMH), a unit of Medica Group of Hospitals, said it was for the first time that a surgery like this one -using bone cement, screws and rods -was performed in the Bihar-Jharkhand region, which meant that similar cases would no longer have to be referred to neurosurgeons in metros in future.

Dr Fateh Bahadur Singh, a neurosurgeon who is a visiting consultant at Apollo Gleneagles in Calcutta, conducted the operation on December 19.

"Usually, such operations are held in metro cities and the total cost (kyphoplasty for around Rs 2.5 lakh and hospital expenses of nearly Rs 3 lakh) is to the tune of Rs 5.5 lakh. But, we have done it at Rs 2.50 lakh (kyphoplasty kit and bone cement costing Rs 1.10 lakh, keeping hospital expenses at Rs 1.40 lakh)," said the doctor with 25 years of experience.

The woman, a resident of Kitadih on the outskirts of Jamshedpur, suffered spinal cord compression after sustaining injuries during a fall from a speeding auto-rickshaw on September 30, 2015 while going for M.Com admissions at Kolhan University in Chaibasa, 55km away.

The injured woman (her parents have requested the media not to disclose her identity) was initially rushed to Tata Main Hospital (TMH) for treatment.

"There were three other women with her in the auto which was speeding. It overturned near Hata and my daughter sustained spinal injuries. The driver fled from the spot with the vehicle. Passersby rushed my daughter to Tata Main Hospital (TMH) in Bistupur," said the father, an employee of Tata Steel (LD-II department).

After treatment, TMH doctors advised her bed rest. However, her condition worsened as she suffered severe backaches with a tingling sensation in her lower limbs. She was finding it difficult to pass urine and was unable to sit for more than 20 minutes at a stretch.

"We consulted Dr Singh at KGMH on December 19 and after an MRI and radio imaging, he advised surgery," said the father.

Dr Singh, who has had a long association with TMH, said they concluded she needed surgery after consultations with radiologists. "We injected bone cement into the internal part of the vertebral body to expand it (a process known as kyphoplasty) and combined it with the posterior screw-rod system to join the bones of spines to provide stability. She was discharged on December 26," the doctor said.

On Wednesday, the hospital announced that the girl had recovered fully. "She is able to walk without support and sit properly," Dr Singh added.