SD Podiatrist Provides Limb-Saving Care
Dale Pollema, 77, was planning to move some corn from the grain bin — something he has done countless times. But that day was about to become anything but ordinary. When he threw the switch, an auger flew off severely injuring his foot and leg. “I took one look at the injury film, and I was like, Definitely a pretty severe soft-tissue injury. But as long as the Achilles is intact, and his arterial flow is intact, we can definitely work with this,” said Peter Bellezza, DPM.
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Dr. Peter Bellezza |
Dr. Bellezza first did surgery to repair the soft tissue in Dale’s ankle. To give him and his wound a better chance at recovery, he also did a skin graft a week later. “He had a good scan envelope right above the wound, so I was able just to harvest a small amount of skin to kind of get it over that granular bed. We put another wound VAC on, which was on for a full week, and by the time we took it off, the skin had fully grown into the wound,” said Dr. Bellezza. “Oh, he did a super job!” said Pollema.
Source: Dakota News Now [5/15/23]
