Noted Bengali actor and Dada Saheb Phalke awardee Soumitra Chatterjee's health continues to be critical.
According to the latest reports, a team of doctors treating him is now considering tracheostomy on the veteran actor, hoping that the surgery may improve his condition, a senior official said on Monday.
The doctor said, "We are also mulling to carry out plasmapheresis after consulting nephrologists. We may consider administrating a tracheostomy on Wednesday. This may improve his condition."
As per a report in India Today, the team of doctors treating Chatterjee is currently weighing whether the use of this method could lead to any other unwanted health issues or cause any physical harm. However, it has been confirmed that the family of the veteran actor has approved the procedure.
Tracheostomy is a surgical procedure that consists of making an incision (cut) on the anterior aspect (front) of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea (windpipe). The resulting stoma (hole) can serve independently as an airway or as a site for a tracheal tube or tracheostomy tube to be inserted; this tube allows a person to breathe without the use of the nose or mouth.
Last week, Soumitra Chatterjee's health condition showed marginal improvement but still remained critical, doctors said.
Chatterjee underwent the second dialysis last Thursday at Kolkata's premier Belle Vue Clinic. Chatterjee has been on ventilator support since Monday after the medical team at the hospital described his renal function as 'not so good'.
According to hospital sources, there has been no further gastrointestinal bleeding on Friday. However, his haemoglobin had gone down for a while and doctors had to go for two units of blood transfusion.