HYDERABAD: The non-availability of CT scan machines, the most basic equipment doctors use to understand the prognosis of Covid-19 in moderate to severe cases, continues to be felt at major government hospitals across the State. Express contacted over nine major government hospitals, only to find that the CT scan equipment is not available at the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) and Chest Hospital, Erragadda, which have a bed capacity of 980 and 177 respectively.
In the absence of CT scan equipment, doctors are now using X-ray machines. “An X-ray only shows that the lung is affected. But how much of the lung is affected can only be known with a CT scan,” explained a doctor from Chest Hospital. The Computed Tomography (CT) scan comes into play when the decision to put a patient on a ventilator or High Flow Nasal Oxygen (HFNO) has to be taken.
“Now after putting the patient on oxygen, we see if the oxygen saturation improved, how bad their symptoms are and also their breathing rate to assess whether they must go from regular oxygen mask to HFNO or to C-pap and eventually ventilator. If we have CT, it generally has the CO-RAD rating, which shows what percentage of the lungs is affected. Then we can directly put the patient on required treatment, instead of accessing whether they are improving on O2 or not and wasting precious time,” added a doctor from TIMS.
In other major hospitals, the situation is only a shade less worse. At some facilities, the machines are available but the operators are not. For instance, in Hyderabad’s District Hospital Koti, the CT scan works only on alternate days as the technicians work on a shift basis. In Nalgonda, the CT scan machine is used on two days of the week when staff is available. In Siddipet, where a brand new CT scan machine is in place, no staff is available to operate the equipment. Similarly in OGH, only one of the two scans are functional.
“In Nalgonda, because there is no CT scan facility for five days a week, a private lab has sprung up opposite the medical college. Doctors are now referring the patients to undergo tests in the private lab,” informed a hospital source.
WHAT THEY HAVE & WHAT THEY DON’T
TIMS: No machine
Nalgonda GGH: Machine available, works two days a week
Nizamabad GGH: Machine available, staff shortage
Siddipet GGH: Machine available, no staff
Suryapet GGH: Machine available, works daily
Warangal GGH: Machine available, works daily
Mahbubnagar GGH: Machine available, works daily
Koti: Machine available, works alternate days
Chest Hospital: No machine