October 18, 2021 – Thanks to advanced, innovative treatment, doctors at Rambam Health Care Campus were able to reconstruct the shattered jaw of an IDF officer who was seriously wounded during a firefight.

Last month, Captain “D”, a company commander from the elite Duvdevan unit, was injured during an encounter with terrorists near Jereconstnin, suffering multiple gunshot wounds to the lower abdomen, and one bullet hit D’s left lower jaw, resulting in multiple facial fractures. Miraculously, the bullet did not strike vital areas that could have led to his immediate death.

In addition, there was a fracture in close proximity to his eye socket. “Once the facial bones are involved, the airways also become involved. The bullet hit very close to the brain, eyes, and tongue,” explains Professor Adi Rahmiel, Director of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Rambam. “It was clear to us that due to the nature of Captain D’s facial injuries, we would have to do a full anatomical reconstruction of the bones,” he added.

Professor Rahmiel points out that the medical teams are using new CT imaging devices to help plan the reconstruction. “In most cases, we do imaging of the healthy side and use those images to plan and repair the injured side. However, in this case, both sides were injured.”

Before the operation, Professor Rahmiel and his team actually started the treatment using a computer, creating a 3D model of D’s restored jaw, and printing it on a 3D printer. “This enabled us to enter the operating room without any surprises,” says Professor Rahmiel.

Notes Yossi, D’s father, “I was stressed, but the result of the surgery was more than perfect. We thank all the medical staff, the doctors of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, the Director of the Division of Critical Care Medicine, Dr. Yaron Bar-Lavie, and his physician, Dr. Danny Epstein.

In the photo: The 3D model of D’s jaw prior to surgery.

Photography courtesy of Rambam Health Care Campus.