The 24-year-old – who was born with arrinia, a rare condition in which a person is born without a nose – underwent surgery lasting approximately two hours, where the team of 36 doctors fitted him with a silicone nasal prosthesis.
Taking into account the complex diagnosis, the medical team – made up of 36 doctors, including Angolans from the General Hospital of Benguela and Cubans from the Cubanita clinic, highlighting nine specialists, including maxillofacial surgeons, otorhinolaryngologists and pediatricians – considered the patient as a "warrior", which became an unprecedented case in national medicine.
Quoted by Angop, Geovane Rafael said that the surgery was successful thanks to the efforts of resident doctors at the Benguela hospital unit, involving specialists in anesthesia and general surgery.
According to the surgeon, the operation, which cost nothing to the young man's family, goes down in the history of national and continental medicine. "We are sure that at national level this is the first case and that surgery of this level has never been performed in Africa", he said.
Appearing surprised that a patient in these conditions had managed to survive until the time of the operation, he explained the procedure in detail: a nasal airway was opened and skin was removed from the abdomen to help sew the prosthesis, leaving the patient able to breathe that way from now on.
"We are facing a case that is incompatible with human life," he said, quoted by Angop.
Regarding Faustino César's condition, the doctor said that he is currently out of danger and is recovering well in the aforementioned hospital, where he will be hospitalized for a period of 30 days.
On the occasion, he also highlighted the relevance of the collaboration between the General Hospital of Benguela and the Cubanita clinic. Quoted by Angop, he also stated that Angola deserves recognition for being the pioneering country in Africa in carrying out this type of surgery, which is only carried out in countries that have advanced health systems, such as the United States of America.
"In the world, there are few cases of this nature with these good results," he added.
Dário Quintero, general surgeon who was part of the medical team that performed this surgery, said that a team will monitor Faustino after the operation in order to prevent potential complications and that it was decided to hospitalize the patient because of the poor hygiene conditions in his residence.
The family was also happy with the operation. "The feeling is great. I'm moved and I'm grateful to be accompanied by this group", said Faustino's mother, Maria Bernada Pascoal.
"It just makes me cry with emotion. God has already wiped away my tears," she said, quoted by Angop.
It should be noted that this operation will go down in the history of national medicine, placing the country among the few in the world that have recorded around fifty cases of this pathology.
