THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An 82-year-old man operated upon for a ruptured aortic aneurysm is back to normal life after three months. Claimed to be a rare surgery on an octogenarian, the operation was performed by a team of doctors led by Dr M Unnikrishnan at SUT Hospital, Pattom.
Calling it a ‘miracle’, Unnikrishnan said the patient from Nagercoil has completely recovered. He said the patient would not have survived if he was not operated upon about three months ago.
“It was really a risk as he was suffering from a ruptured abdominal aortic iliac aneurysm, which is fatal,’’ he said.
Unnikrishnan said the patient is much healthier and even attended a family function after the surgery. Such an operation and recovery of an octogenarian after the surgery is a real ‘miracle’, he said. Dr Arun Reddy, Dr Chaitra Krishna, Arun Raj, Dr Praveen and Harisreela S Nair were in the team that performed the surgery. The patient was admitted to SUT with abdominal and severe back pain in June.
Aortic aneurysm in abdomen
An abdominal aortic aneurysm is an enlarged area in the lower part of the aorta, the major blood vessel supplying blood to the body. Aorta in the abdomen is about 1.6 to 1.8 cm in diametre. But as one gets old, there is a tendency for the aorta to expand, especially in males with high BP and smokers. It can expand and lead to a rupture, which could be fatal.