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  Man’s body opened up in rare surgery

Man’s body opened up in rare surgery

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : Oct 16, 2016, 1:42 am IST
Updated : Oct 16, 2016, 1:42 am IST

Doctors at a city hospital performed a life-saving surgery on 58-year-old man to save his limbs, after he was advised elsewhere to have them amputated.

Doctors at a city hospital performed a life-saving surgery on 58-year-old man to save his limbs, after he was advised elsewhere to have them amputated.

Doctors performed a surgery in which almost entire body had to be opened up for surgery — chest, abdomen and legs — for simultaneous clearance of blockages. According to the doctors, Patel Singh was suffering from Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD), a condition in which arteries supplying blood to legs becomes thickened, weak or have blockages. Patel was referred to BLK Super Speciality Hospital when he casually visited an orthopaedic clinic considering it to be a joint pain. Some vital tests done on him — doppler followed by CT Angiogram — revealed that he was suffering from critical blockages at five major places in blood vessels from upper to lower body.

Director and senior consultant, Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Dr Sushant Srivastava said, “One can confuse such pains with an orthopaedic issue and can waste considerable time looking for a solution for an undiagnosed problem. Everyone with a history of diabetes, hypertension, heart problems as well as smokers should not take their leg pains lightly for it could be indicative of a big impending worry.”

Doctors claimed that in Patel’s case, blockages were critical and at multiple places from aorta above left kidney to both thighs and legs.

The surgery involved opening up the chest, abdomen and legs at the same time.

This was a high risk surgery as there were chances of blood loss, multiple blockages had to be bypassed in one go and any delay in the procedure could have caused the toxins to spread in other parts of the body. When the blockage is high-up (upper kidney), the graft cannot be done through only abdomen and therefore chest of the patient is opened to take the graft connecting lower chest, abdomen and then thighs.

Dr Srivastava advises that the only way to prevent this condition is to have regular check-up, which includes pulse examination of legs every year.

“Also, one should undergo a yearly test of Ankle Brachial Index (ABI), which is a blood pressure measurement of arms and legs,” he added.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi