Minimally Invasive Surgery to Rescue of Patients

Mini Sternotomy Thymectomy CMC

Master Sanjay Kumar - 9/M - S/o Mr Karam Raj – a factory worker of Hisar–suffered from a serious malady called myasthenia gravis in which the muscles of the body get tired very fast. This can have serious consequences as the patient may be unable to breathe at all. The cause is an auto-immune disorder in which the body produces a poison against its own muscle receptors.  In a number of such cases cure can be got by removing a tumour called a thymoma which is present in most of these patients. The surgery requires a long cut in the front of the chest and can be quite a cosmetic problem for the patient.

In such cases a unique surgery has been devised in the Cardio Vascular & Thoracic Department of the Christian Medical College & Hospital. Dr Harinder Singh Bedi – Head of CVTS – said that instead of a long midline cut and a complete division of the breast bone – an alternative is used. Here the cut is a small transverse one and the bone is cut only partially. The completeness of the surgery is not compromised in any way. The tumour was completely removed. Sanjay is now a happy boy.  His scar is not visible at all.

Such keyhole surgeries increase the acceptance of surgery in some patients esp young ladies who tend to avoid even life saving therapies in fear of perceived cosmetic disadvantage. Dr Bedi – who is a world leader in minimally invasive cardiac surgery with his name in the Limca Book of World Records for the Worlds first keyhole cardiac surgery using a cath lab in OT – told that the same technique can now be applied to other cardiac surgeries also .The other members of the team are Dr.Allen Joseph, Dr.Arun Gupta, Dr.Muneesh, Dr.Viju Abraham, Dr.Pranay Pawar and Dr.Richa.

Dr Abraham G Thomas – Director of CMC & H – said that it was a matter of great pride for Punjab as the Limca recorded World first surgery had been developed in Punjab itself. He told that the CMC was always committed to be in the forefront of any technology which will help the patients of this region.       Report by --Shalu Arora and Rector Kathuria