BENGALURU: Through a five-hour-long laparoscopic surgery, doctors at Aster RV Hospital removed a 4.005 kg fibroid from the uterus of a 42-year-old patient who had not exhibited any noticeable symptoms or undergone any previous treatment or surgery before.
A routine scan revealed that the patient had fibroids equivalent in size to a 32 to 34-week gravid uterus. She was counselled about the potential drawbacks, disadvantages, and health-related complications associated with having fibroids of this size.
“Given the size of the fibroid and uterus occupying the abdomen, performing laparoscopy in the uterine region is particularly challenging, due to the limited space for instrument movement,” explained Dr Sunil Eshwar, the patient’s lead consultant and a laparoscopic surgeon at Aster RV Hospital.
Locating the usual blood vessels, identifying, and successfully controlling the blood vessels supplying blood to the uterus was a task in itself, he added. Fibroids are found in 20 to 30 per cent of women in their reproductive age. However, the occurrence of such a large fibroid in the uterus is extremely rare and unheard of, said Dr Eshwar. While routine procedures typically take around 1.5 hours, this operation required over two hours to remove approximately 150 fibroids, with the largest measuring 12 cm, Dr Eshwar said.