The Department of Vascular Surgery at Government Rajaji Hospital here has successfully performed three delicate vascular surgeries within a week’s time.
Doctors said the department, with limited resources, performed 1,367 vascular surgeries in the past one-and-a-half years – a feat that is surpassed by only the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai.
One of the three surgeries was performed on a 52-year-old patient whose abdominal aorta was swollen 10 times bigger than the normal width of roughly 1.2 to 1.5 cm. “The problem is called ‘impending rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysms, which means the abdominal aorta could rupture anytime and cause immediate death,” said K. Elancheralathan, Professor and Head of the department.
He saidthough the patient had a huge swelling on his abdomen, he ignored it and the problem was identified only when he went to a hospital for an external injury. “Since he could not afford the surgery at a private hospital, where it could have cost up to Rs. 5 lakh, he was referred to the GRH,” he said.
Dr. Elancheralathan said they had to perform the surgery immediately despite many risks as the situation was life-threatening. “We removed the swollen aorta and replaced it with a Dacron synthetic graft,” he said.
The other two surgeries were performed on patients having blocks in blood vessels for which bypass surgeries were performed using synthetic grafts. “One of them had problem in blood supply to kidneys and both the lower limbs were affected. Another patient, a 27-year-old man had a block in abdominal aorta due to cigarette smoking, which resulted in loss of blood circulation to one of his legs,” Dr. Elancheralathan said.
A senior official from GRH said that the Vascular Surgery department had only three doctors - among them one was on deputation, whereas the Rajiv Gandhi hospital in Chennai had 16 doctors. “There is a need for more number of doctors considering the number of patients being handled by the GRH,” he said.
Dean M.R. Vairamuthu Raju said the three surgeries were performed under Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme. He appreciated the team of doctors, which included Assistant Professors C. Saravanan Robinson and N. Sharmila and also lauded the anaesthetists who had a crucial role in the success of the surgeries.
