
NIN web Desk : (Dr. Subhrajyoti Chattopadhyay) ; The surgery was conducted at the Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI) with a high-risk procedure as the Team of doctors said.The 25-year-old mother to be, first began experiencing numbness in her lower body, with reduced mobility and acute pain. Medical examinations revealed that she had spinal Tuberculosis and her fifth sixth dorsal spinal vertebrae had collapsed. Which was compressing her spinal cord and threatening to permanently render her paraplegic.
The team, led by Kolkata-based neurosurgeon Dr Rathijit Mitra performed the operation on the patient for over six hours in mid-December. The team had to ensure the safety of not only the mother but also the foetus which was quiet a challenging one. The team faced multiple challenges while operating on the patient. Due to the patient’s pregnancy X-rays couldn’t be used. They also could not lay her on her chest, which complicated the operation.
So they had to lay the patient on her left side and a thoracotomy (a cut made between the ribs to reach the chest) was done on her right side to gain access to the spine through her chest cavity retracting her right lung.Once the doctors had gained access to the spine, they used a bone scalpel to remove the diseased part of the spine. An implant was then placed to fill the gap and fixed with screws.
The doctor said that because the patient was five months pregnant, everyone attributed her back pain to her pregnancy. But when her mobility was compromised and she became bedridden, medical attention was sought at that very prime time.According to last reports in January, the woman and her unborn child are both healthy and the woman has faced no major mobility issues since. It’s indeed a great successful operation done by the Team.