Luisa Baptista has ‘significant improvement’, says hospital – 12/27/2023 – Sport

Triathlete Luisa Baptista, 29, showed “significant clinical improvement” in the last 48 hours, informed the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of USP in a new medical bulletin released this Wednesday (27).

Champion at the Lima 2019 Pan-American Games, Luisa was hit by a motorcycle on Saturday (23) while cycling along the Abel Terrugi municipal highway (SCA-329), in São Carlos (SP). On Sunday night, she was transferred in serious condition to the institution’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

“Today [quarta-feira] In the morning, it was possible to remove extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), without complications”, informs the bulletin. Used in cases of cardiovascular or pulmonary failure and insufficiency, this technique consists of pumping the patient’s blood into an artificial lung where it is performed. the oxygenation of the liquid before it is returned to the body.

Despite the important evolution, the medical team reiterated that the triathlete “continues to receive specialized intensive care”, still following the hospital bulletin.

The Sesi-SP athlete had been admitted to Santa Casa de São Carlos with severe polytrauma, including pneumotrauma, head trauma and rib, clavicle and leg fractures.

According to the Civil Police, the man who ran over Luisa did not have a driver’s license. The motorcycle was seized, and the report was registered as culpable bodily injury. The highway where the accident occurred is usually used for this type of training as it normally has little movement.

The triathlete was champion in the individual and mixed category at the Pan-American Games in Lima, Peru, in 2019. She was the first Brazilian woman to win the title in triathlon. She also won silver (2018) and bronze (2017) in two stages of the triathlon World Cup and represented Brazil at the Tokyo Olympic Games.