Medical mistakes that prove Itumbi a fraud

• Jan 3, 2022

By Dr. Naomi Macharia

Kenyans have been treated to a comedy by Deputy President William Ruto’s Digital Strategist, Dennis Itumbi, on his alleged abduction and torture.

According to Itumbi, his torturers broke his legs and limbs.

But within seven days, Itumbi had recovered and could be seen walking with crutches, which can only be described as a miracle.

First, what is a Sprain: This is a soft tissue injury in ligaments around joints especially due to overstretching or tear.

On the other hand a fracture is a break in the bone. There are many unwritten rules of broken bones that have always been applied by orthopaedics all over the world that lack of adherence to will result to grave dangers to the patient.

 I will explore a few of them by observing the MRI and X-RAY data given from patient Itumbi:

 Mistake 1: Do not attempt to realign the bone or push it.

Realigning can be achieved through walking. Walking is strenuous and can cause more damage and massive pain such that if a patient really had a broken leg, He/She would not be smiling but groaning in excruciating pain.

 Mistake 2: From (1) above in the event that the damage was a simple bone sprain, wearing a cast is recommended.

 However, this is to properly immobilize the injured area.

 Therefore walking or standing would be dangerous if not impossible as it may require surgery to ensure correct alignment and fusion.

Mistake 3: From the available images, it is possible to tell that the left hand did not incur any fracture and simply was put in a cast for show purposes.

This is because even for a simple sprain, the supporting of body weight (The patient is over 160 pounds) would result to extreme pain and stress as it is medically impossible.

Mistake 4: Elevation has always been the only way to ensure healing for fractures and sprains.

The injured area should be elevated above the heart to avoid swelling.

 Therefore walking is NOT allowed.

Mistake 5: Standard mobilization/ Early mobilization, the patient should not have a cast and a walking aid coupled with clutches if a fracture/sprain had occurred in both legs.

Mistake 6 &7: For proper blood circulation, the patient should not only elevate the affected part but also avoid tight clothing.