Kolkata doctors remove rare tumour from Siliguri patient

Prashant Acharya, EOI, SILIGURI, 5 Oct 2016: A  resident from the outskirts of Siliguri suffering from a rare tumour has been successfully operated by doctors from Kolkata.

Hailing from Sukna, 59 year-old Pushpa Singh had been suffering from Evans Tumour (soft tissue sarcoma) for a long time. The tumour had affected her elbow, making hand and finger movement virtually  impossible. She was not able to get rid of the tumour even after undergoing several operations.

Pushpa can now lead a normal life thanks to the Kolkata doctors who were successful in removing the tumour. The doctors said soft tissue sarcoma operation is one of the rarest operations and is  conducted on one in 1 million persons.

To remove Pushpa’s tumour, the doctors changed the afflicted bone with megha prosthesis functioning muscles with skin. They conducted a total elbow replacement and total elbow animation surgery to get  rid of the tissue.

The doctors have claimed the operation was the first of its kind in the world as literature on this type of operation is not found anywhere across the globe.

A team of five doctors from Kolkata’s Narayana Super Specialty Hospital led by ortho oncologist Koushik Nandy and Dr. Adhish Basu conducted a 12:30 hour long operation to remove the 2.5kg tumour measuring 15X20X20 centimetres. The operation began at 10am and was completed by 10:30pm.

Dr. Nandy said the operation was the first of its kind in the world. After six weeks, Pushpa is doing fine, he added.

With hand movement becoming increasingly difficult, Pushpa’s arm was screened for fractures. Instead a bone tumour was found in 2011. Thereafter, she underwent a series of three operations in hospitals in Bangalore and Siliguri but doctors were unable to remove the tumour.

Gaurav Singh, Pushpa’s son, said, “The first operation was conducted in 2011, but the cyst was found again. We all decided to go in for a second operation in 2013. However, the cyst started growing back again. Now, the entire elbow bone has been replaced with a steel rod. My mother can now move her fingers and is feeling fine following the operation.”