VIJAYAWADA: DOCTORS at the New Government General Hospital (GGH) here successfully conducted a complicated surgery for the first time on a 62-year-old cancer patient on December 9. The patient was discharged on Monday.
Hospital Superintendent Y Kiran Kumar said the patient was diagnosed with Papillary Carcinoma Thyroid a month ago. She had been suffering from a gland in the neck for the past two months.
Doctors attending to the Apparaopet resident decided to perform a total thyroidectomy modified radical neck dissection surgery, a complicated procedure, if went wrong could affect the nerves to the vocal chords and parathyroid glands.
Kumar said the surgery, which would have cost Rs 2-3 lakhs, was conducted under the Aarogyashri Scheme. The superintendent said the new GGH has been equipped with modern equipment to treat cancer patients.
An outpatient wing of the cancer clinic would be opened within a week at the super speciality block, where patients could consult specialist Oncologists every Monday and Thursday. Kumar said though a 30-bed radiotherapy and chemotherapy wing affiliated to the New GGH has been functioning with adequate infrastructure and staff at Chinna Kakani in Guntur, it has been under-utilised. He requested the government for modern equipment costing `10-15 crore for the clinic.