A 45-year-old resident of Mangrol, Umar Bhima, successfully underwent a bypass surgery in the city, without anaesthesia. The surgery was conducted while the patient was awake. The patient was discharged on the third day after the surgery, while usually, patients had to stay at the hospital for a week or more before being discharged.

Bhima had been suffering from chest pain. The doctors at a private hospital investigated his condition and it was revealed in the angiography that one of his coronary arteries was blocked. To remove the blockage, the only left for the patient was to undergo bypass surgery.

The patient already has a stent in his coronary, which was also found blocked. Taking up the challenge to deal with all these conditions, the team of experts operated on the patient without general anaesthesia.

"Usually, heart bypass surgery is done under general anaesthesia, whereby the patient is completely sedated. But, for this patient, I and my cardiac anaesthesia team decided to do bypass surgery under Epidural Analgesia," said Dr Sadanand Patwari, a cardiac surgeon.

"This is an injection given in the spine, making the surgery totally pain free. The patient was completely awake during the surgery," added the doctor.

After the surgery, the patient was shifted to ICU for a day and then he spent another day in the ward. After a review of his condition on the third day, he was discharged. "Normally, after a surgery under general anaesthesia, it takes 7-8 days for the patient to get discharged. There are many benefits of the 'Awake heart surgery' such as avoiding complications of general anaesthesia, better pain control, early recovery of the patient and shorter hospital stay," remarked the doctor.

"I was awake during the surgery, listening to music and watching the happenings around me. It was not a scary experience at all," said the patient. The surgery was done free of cost under the Mukhyamantri Amrutam Yojana.