Surgery feat for NBMCH

Doctor Sajal Biswas checks Shahida Dewa at NBMCH. Telegraph picture

TT, Siliguri, Nov. 25: Doctors of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital have for the first time conducted a complicated surgery to remove the esophagus (food pipe) of a woman and replace it with a gastric conduit (tube-like structure) made from the patient's stomach.

A group of 10 doctors from the departments of general surgery and anaesthesiology conducted the trans-hiatal esophagectomy surgery on Shahida Dewa, 42, a resident of Jalpaiguri, on November 7 and the operation was a success.

"The patient had developed a malignant tumour on her esophagus because of which solid and liquid food could not pass through. As a temporary arrangement, we fitted a feeding jejunostomy tube or feeding pipe directly to her abdomen to provide her with neessary nutrition. She underwent five cycles of radio-therapy at NBMCH which cured her cancer but the esophagus had to be removed to prevent any chance of recurrence of the cancer," said Barun Kumar Singh, one of the three main surgeons who conducted the surgery.

The other two surgeons were Haripada Mondal and Sajal Biswas.

Shahida lives with her son and daughter. Her son, a day wage worker, is the sole earner of the family.

According to Singh, this is the first time that doctors at NBMCH undertook the complicated surgery for which patients are normally referred to the SSKM - the only state-run facility that performs such complicated surgeries - in Calcutta.

"We usually fit the feeding pipe for nutritional support to patients with esophageal carcinoma and give them radio-therapy. As the School of Digestive and Liver Diseases at the SSKM is the only state-run facility that performs this surgery, we refer patients there for operations. If a person has to undergo the surgery in a private facility, it would cost around Rs 3.5 to 4 lakh. However, patients who visit NBMCH are from very poor families and cannot afford to go to Calcutta for treatment and Shahida is one of them," he said.

On November 7, Shahida underwent the five-hour long open surgery where one of the surgeons worked on the side of the neck and another one on the side of her abdomen to remove the esophagus.

"The surgery requires no specialised equipment but the operation itself is complicated and needs a lot of expertise. The post-operative period is crucial for such patients and they require intensive critical care under constant supervision," Singh said.

"It was an open surgery where we cut open her chest. Two doctors had to work on the neck and abdomen end with the assistance of other doctors. A gastric conduit or a tube-like structure was made from the patient's stomach during the surgery and it was put in place of the esophagus to facilitate the passage of liquid and solid food," the doctor added.

Shahida was discharged from the hospital on Saturday.

"I had developed the problem five months ago when I was away from Jalpaiguri to attend a relative's wedding. For the past two weeks after the surgery, I have been able to swallow both solid and liquid food," she said.