A complex case of inguinoscrotal hernia or scrotal abdomen, which involved almost the entire part of the patient’s intestines and urinary bladder protruding into his scrotum resulting in massive swelling, had been successfully operated by doctors at the Government Rajaji Hospital here.
M.R. Vairamuthu Raju, Dean, said that though the hospital had dealt with scrotal abdomen cases, the particular case was rare because of the size and other complications involved. “The swelling was well below the patient’s knees,” he said.
The patient R. Xavier (53), a hotel employee from Kamudhi in Ramanathapuram district, said that although he had been suffering for many years, he avoided medical treatment fearing that he might not survive a surgery.
Lauding the efforts of anaesthetists, Dr. Vairamuthu Raju said that the complex part of the surgery was anesthetizing the patient and ensuring that he did not suffer from respiratory problems post surgery.
“For many years, his large intestine, small intestine and urinary bladder were in his scrotum and not abdomen. Suddenly when they were pushed to abdomen through surgery, he was likely to face extreme respiratory stress,” said C. Ganesh Prabhu, Director of Department of Anaesthesiology.
Pointing out that a general anaesthesia was opted instead of spinal anaesthesia, which is generally used for hernia patients, Dr. Ganesh Prabhu said that the patient was kept in ventilator support for two days after surgery for his body to get accustomed to the changed respiratory load.
The team included S. Selva Chidambaram, Professor and Head of Surgery, P. Amudha, Professor of Surgery, and P. Ganesh, Senior Assistant Professor of Surgery.
Attributing the lack of awareness for the complication, Dr. Vairamuthu Raju said that such cases could be easily resolved if treated earlier.
Tumour removed
In another complex surgery, two ovarian tumours weighing more than ten kilograms were successfully removed from M. Subbammal (70), a destitute woman from Simmakkal living on old age pension provided by the government.
C. Shanthi, Professor and Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said that Subbammal was brought to the hospital recently by a distant relative with huge swelling in her stomach. “The swelling was larger than the bump of a pregnant woman. Moreover, she was very weak and had high blood pressure,” she added.
She said that the team of doctors, which included Professor of OG K.S. Chitra and Senior Assistant Professor of OG T.V. Indirani, brought the blood pressure under control and then operated upon the woman to remove the tumours from both the ovaries.
Though the hospital had dealt with scrotal abdomen cases, this particular case was rare because of the size and complications involved: GRH Dean
