A 87-year-old lady undergoes complex tumour surgery at pvt hospital

CHENNAI: A 87-year-old woman underwent a surgery for the removal of a tumour that involved almost three-fourth of the stomach area at a private hospital in the city recently. The whole tumour was removed successfully through laparoscopic surgery.

The patient was brought to the hospital with abdominal pain, vomiting and inability to eat. Though endoscopy initially did not detect any tumour, a CT scan was done which showed a huge tumour in the stomach wall of size 9x8cm. The pathologic examination of the specimen confirmed the tumour to be a Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumour (GIST). Gastrointestinal stromal tumour is a cancer that originates in the digestive tract.

The team of surgeons at the Prashanth Hospitals, led by Dr Gopalaswamy G conducted a laparoscopic removal of the tumour that involved almost 75 percent of the stomach area. The whole tumour was removed successfully through laparoscopic surgery and the patient was started on fluids on the third day and was discharged after a week post the surgery.

Commenting on this procedure, Dr Balamurugan S, surgical gastroenterologist and laparoscopic cancer surgeon said that the procedure was complex as the patient’s age was a deterring factor and the tumour from the stomach had almost occupied three-fourth of the space in the stomach. "A near total gastrostomy was performed with safe and complete removal of the tumour which comes under a type of tumour called GIST. She is currently stable and healthy post the surgery."