- In a rare case, a 17-year-old girl from Pune has experienced her menstrual cycle for the first time in her life, with the help of surgery
- A 17-year-old Pooja Shinde (name changed) was suffering from severe abdominal pain since last three years.
- A detailed examination done at Sassoon Hospital revealed that Shinde suffered from an absence of cervix since birth.
But now, post operation at Sassoon Hospital, her menstrual cycles have started now. After the operation, she has completed the first three menstrual cycles in her life.
If the doctors would have gone with the traditional approach by removing the uterus, she would not have been able to have a menstrual cycle in her life. But with doctors using the technique of laparoscopy, she has started menstruating and can also conceive normally in the future.
As the cervix was absent, doctors created cervix with the help of laparoscopic surgery. The girl was suffering from what is medical termed as ‘cervical atresia.’ This condition is rare, as it is seen in one in one lakh cases. While the conventional approach prescribes open surgery, there are very few cases where it has been performed laparoscopically. This was the first time that this condition was operated laparoscopically at Sassoon Hospital.
Dr Ramesh Bhosale, Head of Department at the Gynaecology department of Sassoon Hospital, Pune, said, “The outflow tract from where blood passes during menstrual cycle was absent in her case. This is an attempt with the benefit of advance technology. In this case, if everything goes well, she can even conceive. The lower part of uterus is attached to the newly created vagina in her case.”
Doctors said that laparoscopic technology has many advantages to open surgery. As the surgery was performed at younger age in Shinde’s case, she might be able to conceive in future. The procedure is called as ‘Uterovaginal anastomosis.’