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Motala, a 38-year-old elephant,
was taking a break from logging duties when she stepped on a land mine,
shattering her left foot. By the time her "owner" got Motola to an
elephant hospital in northern Thailand after a three-day trek, Motola was
in agony. A television footage showed the pachyderm holding her shredded
foot up and weeping.
Today, veterinarians at the Lampang Elephant Hospital are preparing for surgery on Motola's leg, hoping to minimize the amount of leg they will have to amputate. Everything from bedsores to blood transfusions to post-operation infections are weighing heavily on the vets. According to Worakorn Jitlang, the chief veterinarian, Motola has a 50 percent chance of surviving the two-to three-hour operation.
"I can't tell you right now about the condition of Motola but we think the surgery was successful," bone surgeon Therdchai Cheewaket said after the operation. They decided not to amputate
part of Motala's leg, but instead carried out delicate repairs to infected
tissue. Her injured left leg will be a few centimetres shorter
than her others and surgeons may eventually fit a prosthesis when the wound
has healed.
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Doctors had hoped the brace and splint device would help prepare
Motola for eventual attachment of a permanent prosthetic foot when her
wound healed.
Dr. Preecha Paungkham, director of the Hang Chat elephant hospital in Lampang where Motola is being treated, said some parts of her wound had healed and the splint now will be attached for just two to three hours a day, instead of all day as was tried before. "It took a long time for Motola to walk for 30 meters (yards), but she seems so happy," said Dr. Preecha Puangkham. "I can feel the joy she has from being outside, even though it looks painful to go around hobbling on her three good legs." Preecha and an elephant trainer kept Motola company on her first walk in almost 40 days. Preecha noticed the elephant eating fresh weeds and leaves she found along the way. "Her sleep and appetite are good," he said. "From now on, Motola
will enjoy some 20 minutes of walking every day as part of the treatment
to keep her mental state healthy."
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Motola, underwent a second operation Friday to tidy up the wound ahead of a possible fitting for a prosthesis. Half-faint and numb from anesthetic, Motola was hoisted up by a crane with her injured leg tied onto metal bars to steady it so surgeons could conduct the three-hour operation. It went well, with far less bleeding than the operation in late August where surgeons cut away 12 inches of her mine-shredded flesh, veterinarians said. ``She was a very good girl and cooperative and it seemed less painful compared to the last operation,'' said Dr. Therd Thetpratheep, who led the five-man surgical team. The team used a different kind of suture this time, since Motola pulled out her original stitches after the last operation exposing the injury to infection. ``The elephant needs at least a month to recover from the latest operation,'' said Terchai Cheevaket, a top bone surgeon from Chiang Mai University. ``Once her wound heals we will be able to look into the possibility and necessity for Motola to wear a plastic artificial foot.'' Riecken's Orthotic Laboratory in Evansville, Indiana, has offered to make the prosthesis. Thais donated more than $125,000 to fund the amputation and support
the Hang Chat Hospital, 320 miles north of the capital, Bangkok, the only
clinic devoted to treating elephants in Thailand.
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