KIMS surgeons save legs of a patient recently recovered from Covid

Hubballi: The pandemic has, much to the inconvenience of an already stressed healthcare community, made performing surgeries an extremely challenging task. However, a team of surgeons at the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Hubballi on Monday successfully performed a surgery to save the legs of a patient suffering from acute limb ischemia – a condition wherein there is an alarming decrease in the flow of blood to the lower limbs owing to obstruction in an artery. The patient in question had only recently recovered from Covid-19.
The team of surgeons that performed the surgery was headed by Dr SY Mulki Patil from the department of general surgery and cardiovascular thoracic surgeon Dr Ullas Bisleri.
KIMS director Dr Ramlingappa Antartani hailed the efforts of the team of surgeons. “This was a rare case since the patient had only recently recovered from Covid-19 infection. The patient was from Munirabad, and had been shifted to KIMS since he was in need of advanced care. The doctors wasted no time in performing the surgery and saved his limbs,” Dr Antartani said.
The KIMS director pointed out that many surgeries were being postponed not only in India but the world over owing to the risk of transmission of the novel coronavirus during a surgical procedure. “But the KIMS surgeons decided to go ahead with the surgery nevertheless. They removed the clot from one leg and immediately performed the operation in the other and both procedures yielded the desired results,” Dr Antartani added.
Dr Patil and Dr Bisleri said that, they had been part of three such surgeries, one of which had been unsuccessful. “The patient had complications in the lung since had Covid-19 infection. But we could not postpone the surgery. We were not able to save him,” the duo rued.
101 deliveries in three-and-a-half months
The staff of the gynaecology department at KIMS has successfully performed 101 deliveries from June to September 13. Of these, 35 patients had a normal delivery, while 66 women underwent caesarean. Dr Kasturi Donimath, an obstetrician at KIMS, said that the deliveries were performed with doctors and nurses in protective gear.
“We were successful in assisting a woman with ovarian cancer give birth to a child. We have also delivered babies born to women with Covid-19. Only one baby born at KIMS since June has tested positive for Covid-19,” Dr Kasturi said.
Dr Rajshekhar Dyaberi, Dr Arunkumar, Dr Prakash Wari and others were present at the conference.