NEW DELHI: Doctors at a private facility recently operated on a 30-year-old woman with two uteruses, a rare condition which caused her acute pain, especially during a menstrual cycle.
This condition is so rare that till February this year, only 60 such cases were reported worldwide, Dr Amit Javed, director, general and Laparoscopic Surgery, Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj, said, adding that the case study has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Minimal Access surgeries.
"There is not much awareness about this problem. The pain due to this condition worsens during menstruation. Menstrual pain is considered a normal phenomenon. Ladies usually ignore it and also consider the pain as a sign of them having stones," the doctor said.
Talking about the woman, he said the patient had been having severe pain in the lower abdomen for the last one year and it would get worse during the time of her menstrual cycle.
Doctors would advise her painkillers and she used to get transient relief.
"However, a doctor ordered an ultrasound which showed that she could have gallbladder stones and also showed a small fibroid in the uterus.
She was then referred to us for gallbladder removal surgery," Dr Javed said.
"But gallbladder stones usually lead to pain in the right side of the upper abdomen. So we ordered an MRI which suggested that she had ACUM," he said.
ACUM, which translates to accessory and cavitated uterine masses, in lay terms means a baby uterus inside the normal uterus. There is a hollow mass inside the uterus which has blood and degraded blood (blood from the menstrual cycle).
"We had to remove the hollow mass and use an open technique. The surgery was carried out laparoscopically. We had to be quite careful while doing the surgery so as not to affect her tubes," Dr Javed said.
Dr Nivedita Kaul, Senior Consultant Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the hospital was also involved in the case.
The doctor said the patient has recovered well and has no pain till now.
"She was trying to conceive earlier but could not because of this issue," he said.