Doctors at the Gleneagles Global Health City (GGHC) performed a 12-hour surgery on a boy from Bangladesh to remove a nerve sheath tumour that developed in the spinal cord and had extended to the left side of his neck.
Addressing the media on the procedure, Nigel Symss, senior consultant neurosurgeon at the hospital, said the boy had visible symptoms, with swelling on the left side of his neck above the collar bone, for at least two-and-a-half years.
“The tumour, which was a benign schwannoma and not cancer, had destroyed the bones in the lower neck. The major blood vessels on the left side of the neck were encased by this large tumour,” he said.
Dr. Symss added that the team at GGHC decided to perform a single-stage surgery, with the involvement of a multidisciplinary team of doctors, which included a vascular surgeon and a spine surgeon. “The advantage of a single-stage surgery is less blood loss, less chances of inspection and shorter hospital stay,” he said. It also brought down costs.
Phani Kiran, senior consultant spine surgeon at the hospital, said the tumour was removed from behind first, followed by fixing the damaged parts of the upper part of the spine with rods. Then the boy was turned over and the tumour was removed from around the neck. “The surgery was so challenging that any damage to the blood vessels or nerves during the procedure could have permanently paralysed the boy,” said Raj Kumar, senior consultant vascular surgeon at the hospital.
“The tumour was removed completely and the destroyed part of the cervical spine has been stabilised with a titanium cage, which has bone graft that will grow into bones, and a plate with screws. The boy has been recovering well and is undergoing physiotherapy,” Dr. Phani Kiram said.
