PLAYA DEL REY : Doctors Employ Leeches in Treating Victim of ‘Flesh-Eating Bacteria’

A Playa del Rey woman who was attacked by the so-called flesh-eating bacteria is recovering thanks to a combination of high-tech surgery and a centuries-old medical procedure.

The 71-year-old woman, who was not identified, was first hospitalized at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey about two months ago after the deadly affliction--strep A necrotizing bacteria--attacked her right thumb. How she contracted the illness is unclear.

Doctors halted the bacteria’s onslaught by removing the infected tissue and treating the woman with four types of antibiotics.

Because of the bacteria, and after several surgeries, her thumb was reduced to two bones connected by a thin strip of flesh.

To reconstruct it, doctors implanted the remaining portion of the thumb inside the woman’s groin for about three weeks as a means of generating new blood vessels and skin.

But complications arose when blood began to pool around the area where the thumb joined the groin.

At that point, doctors decided to use leeches to suck the excess blood.

“While it sounds creepy, the results were excellent,” said Dr. Grant Stevens, chief of surgery at Daniel Freeman.

“The woman was a real trooper, a true inspiration.”

Stevens applied two leeches, four times a day, for about 40 minutes at a time to the groin region. The leeches also injected a natural anti-coagulant fluid into the area, which thinned the patient’s blood and assisted with healing.

Last Friday, three weeks after the unusual surgical procedure took place, Stevens detached the women’s thumb from her groin. But blood started collecting in her reconstructed thumb, and the leeches were brought in again.

Now, Stevens said, the woman seems well on her way to recovery and regaining the full use of her right hand.

“She has a smile ear to ear and should be out on the golf course within three to four weeks,” Stevens said of the woman, who is an avid golfer.

The woman, who remains hospitalized, declined to be interviewed.

The woman’s affliction, believed to be one of the Westside’s first cases, is still under investigation.