In a complex surgery,a team from the Wockhardt Hospitals at Mira Road near Mumbai, successfully removed 150 stones from a 60-year-old woman’s gallbladder.
Some of these stones had slipped into her bile duct causing obstructive Jaundice (Choledocholithiasis).
The team was headed by Dr Rajiv Manek, Consultant, Minimal Access Metabolic & Bariatric Surgeon and comprising of Dr. Pratik Tibdewal, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Dr. Ashish Mishra, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Dr. Aniket Mule, Consultant Internal Medicine, Dr. Sanggita Checker, Consultant Pulmonologist, Dr. Roopa Mepani, Consultant Anaesthesiologist.
The patient, a resident of Mira Road had 150 stones in her gallbladder for the past 10 years.
She was aware of her condition but since the stones didn’t cause any problems, she didn’t seek medical help. All these years she managed with some dull pain because of the stones.
The patient was obese, short neck, had hypertension, diabetes, bronchial asthma, and developed gallbladder infection when some of the stones slipped from the gall bladder into the bile duct leading to Acute infection of the Biliary system and Jaundice.
The patient visited her family doctor who after initial investigations promptly suggested the patient visit Wockhardt Hospitals Mira Road which is a tertiary care center for further management.
“Pn arrival in an emergency state,the patient exhibited symptoms such as severe upper abdominal pain radiating to the back, nausea and vomiting. Her eyes had turned yellow. I advised her to get admitted and quickly ran a few tests confirming her diagnosis of Acute Cholecystitis with Choledocholithiasis. We frequently see women aged 30 to 60 years present with symptomatic gallstones in OPD. However,Choledocholithiasis (the presence of stones within thecommon bile ductthat is CBD) is a dreaded complication of long-standing gallstones. It caused jaundice, stomach pain, liver swelling and fever,” said Dr Manek.
“We used the Laparo-EndoscopicRendezvous technique, an effective salvagetechniquefor difficult biliary cannulation. This decreases multiple exposure of the patient to general anesthesia. The advantage is the concurrent removal of gallbladder stones using small punctures on the abdomen. The procedure lasts for an average of 90 minutes. It avoids multiple procedures for the patient and big abdominal scars. Not seeking timely treatment could lead to various complications like gallbladder perforation, gangrene of the gallbladder, sepsis, multi-organ failure, and risk to life.”
(Published 15 October 2023, 11:26 IST)