Rare neurosurgery carried out at General Hospital

Doctors at the District General Hospital here have carried out a rare surgical procedure where a tumour in the brain of a patient was removed after administering him only local anaesthesia and placing him under controlled sedation.

The surgery was led by neurosurgeon Dalvin Thomas with the other members of the team being head of anaesthesia, Dr. Bindu Mol V.R., Dr. Sameer Siyadheen, and nurses Ambujam and Shyamala. All through the three-hour-long surgery, the patient from Fort Kochi, Jamher, was engaged in conversation with the doctors to keep him responsive. As the tumour was located near the area in the brain that controlled the motor functions of the body, the doctors had to instruct the patient to make voluntary hand and leg movements during the surgery. Had they administered general anaesthesia to the patient, it would not have been possible to keep him reactive during the surgery. The patient, who has recuperated, is now able to walk. The cost of the surgery was covered under the Karunya scheme of the State government, hence the procedure was totally free for the patient. Such surgeries are rarely carried out even in leading private hospitals. In the public sector, only the Kottayam Medical College is known to have conducted such a surgery.

Dr. Thomas joined the GH neurosurgery department through the National Health Mission two months ago from a leading private hospital.