Jamshedpur: A city-based hospital has successfully conducted a surgery to treat a rare spleen disorder and gift a 35-year-old woman a second life.
Shabnam Khan, a resident of Zakirnagar in Mango, discovered she had splenic cyst three months ago. These are rare lesions that are often spotted fortuitously. They are most often asymptomatic, but may present with abdominal pain, which was the case with Shabnam.
The incidence of splenic cyst is said to be 0.75 for every 1 lakh surgical procedures, according to Dr A.S. Jangbahadur, the medical superintendent at Kantilal Gandhi Memorial Medica Hospital, Bistupur, and head of surgery who supervised the operation on January 20. "In my four-decade-plus surgical career, this was the first case - splenic cyst is that rare," the 70-year-old doctor said.
Shabnam's lesion was large - over 20mm - and it required splenectomy (removal of the spleen) instead of the usual laparoscopy method used against cysts. The surgery team comprised Dr Mananjay Prasad (associate consultant surgeon) and Dr Preeti Gehlot (anaesthetist), besides Dr Jangbahadur.
"All pre-surgical investigations were found within normal range, except her haemoglobin level, which was very low. We counselled the patient. We told her it was a risky procedure, but necessary. She agreed. The OT was successful and she recuperated well. The patient will be discharged tomorrow (Thursday)," said Dr Jangbahadur, who headed the surgery department of Tata Main Hospital before joining Medica.
The cost of the operation and hospitalisation was around Rs 60,000.
"In metros, the same surgery would have cost Rs 5 lakh or more. The patient will need vaccination after every five years because after the removal of spleen, our immunity is suppressed and that exposes us to chances of sepsis," said the general surgeon.
Shabnam, who has been shifted to the general ward, said she was happy to get rid of the nagging pain of three months.
"I was suffering for long. My husband, Nasim Khan, who works in Saudi Arabia advised me to go ahead with the surgery. Now, I am feeling better," she said.
