A team of doctors in Ahmedabad gave a new lease of life to a 56-year-old woman by surgically removing a 47 kg tumour, which she had been carrying for the past 18 years. It is claimed to be the biggest non-ovarian tumour successfully removed in India so far. The patient, a resident of Devgadh Baria, was bedridden for the past few months. The surgery was conducted by a team of eight doctors at Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad, led by chief surgical gastroenterologist Dr Chirag Desai.
Apart from the tumour, the doctors also removed abdominal wall tissues and excess skin weighing around 7 kg during the surgery. Following the surgery, the body weight of the woman dropped to 49 kg, the hospital said in a statement.
According to Dr Desai, it was a high-risk surgery as the woman's internal organs such as liver, heart, lungs, kidneys and uterus were displaced due to the pressure created by the tumour in the stomach wall. Moreover, getting a CT scan done was also difficult as the size of the tumour obstructed the gantry of the CT scan machine, he stated. This happens rarely, said Dr Desai.
Onco-surgeon Dr Nitin Singhal, who was part of the team, noted that while fibroids are common in many women in the reproductive age group, they rarely grow this big.
“We could not weigh the patient before surgery as she could not stand. But after the operation, she weighed 49 kg,” said Dr Desai. Her son said that initially the tumour it was not big and she took some ayurvedic and allopathic medicines. A sonography in 2004 revealed it to be a benign tumour. The same year, the family went for surgery. However, when the doctor saw that the tumour was attached to almost all internal organs, he considered the surgery too risky and sewed her up. Over the years, they consulted several doctors, with no relief. During the last two years the tumour ballooned to almost double in size and she was in constant pain.
