KOCHI: For the first time in the state, a combined pancreas-kidney transplant was successfully performed at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences.
A team of doctors did the highly complex surgery on 35-year-old Sayid Yunus Shehrin, who was suffering from complications such as retinopathy and kidney failure due to Type 1 diabetes.
The hospital administration said that it is the third such transplant to be performed in the country.
Yunus opted for surgery even though he was using the insulin pump because his blood sugar levels had become erratic and his kidneys too had been badly hit.
The doctors said that after the transplant Yunus’ blood sugar levels have become normal even without using insulin. His kidneys too are functioning normally.
The multidisciplinary team which carried out the surgery involved doctors from transplant, nephrology, urology, endocrinology, anaesthesia and critical care departments of medicine. The transplant surgery was done on August 17.
Doctors said that since there would have been no improvement in the condition of the patient with just kidney transplantation, a decision to do combined transplantation was taken. Due to the combined transplantation the patient won’t have to go for dialysis frequently. The pancreas and kidneys were donated by the family of Thomas Varghese who had died in a bike accident. The hospital administration said that the Kerala Network for Organ Sharing helped them tremendously in making this transplant surgery a success.
Dr Prem Nair, Medical Director, AIMS, Dr Harish Endocrinologist, Dr Ramachandran Menon (transplant surgeon), Dr Dinesh Balakrishnan, Dr Binoj ST, transplant surgeon, Dr Lekshmi Kumar, chief anaesthetist and critical care team, Dr Rajesh K, senior consultant, anaesthetist, Dr George Kurien (nephrologist) and Dr Georgie , urologist and transplant surgeon were in the team.