Though they’re amongst the most common surgeries done in India and the world, Rakesh’s (name changed) hernia condition gave doctors at Lifeline Multispeciality Hospital a lot of work.
The 71-year-old man from Rajasthan had come down to the city to get a large hernia operated. But when doctors wheeled him into the CT scanner, they were taken aback. “He had six large hernias. This was over and above two hernias that he had been operated on three years ago,” said Dr J S Rajkumar, Chief Surgeon at the Lifeline Institute of Minimal Access Surgery (LIMAS).
Hernias are formed in the abdomen and lower body when parts of organs protrude through the outer wall of the cavity that contains them. The most common ones are found in the groin and the lower abdomen. Doctors operate on the region and repair the tissue wall using a mesh.
In addition to the hernia in the upper part of the abdomen, he also had a diaphragmattic hernia, which meant two-thirds of the stomach had moved up into his chest. He had one other hernia near his belly button (umblical hernia); another two-three inches below the belly button (spigelian hernia); on in the chest (epigastric hernia), and two in the groin (inguinal hernia). “The umblical and spigelian hernias are extremely rare by themselves, but together have never been heard of,” said the surgeon. Rakesh’s case will be beamed to medical colleges in Berkeley, Mumbai and Muscat as part of a medical workshop to be held this weekend.
Rakesh underwent six laparoscopic procedures over seven hours that left a record eight meshes inside his body. “He’s doing fine now, but he was on a ventilator for 48 hours after the surgery as it was quite tricky,” he added.