Man undergoes 7-hour-long surgery for heart disease, gallstones and colon cancer

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In a significant medical feat, doctors here said on Monday of a simultaneous triple surgery on a 44-year-old man for heart disease, gallstones, and colon cancer -- all in 7 hours.

The patient Kopparam, who had been living with diabetes and heart disease for the last three years, underwent three simultaneous complex procedures -- Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG), gallbladder stone removal, and colon cancer surgery in one session under general anaesthesia.

He was brought to Fortis Hospital, Cunningham Road, with persistent abdominal pain.

An ultrasound examination revealed the presence of gallstones.

Subsequent tests showed cancerous growth in the colon, which posed a significant challenge in Kopparam's treatment plan, particularly due to his pre-existing heart condition, which was being managed with blood thinners.

Performing the CABG first was crucial to ensure the patient's heart was stable before proceeding with the colon cancer surgery, the doctors said.

If the cardiac surgery had been done first, there would have been a three-month wait for the colon cancer surgery, but the delay wasn't an option because of the progressive growth in the tumour.

The doctors used a specialised surgical technique known as OPCAB (Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass) with four grafts (blood vessels that are transplanted into a patient's body to repair or replace damaged ones) to perform the heart surgery.

"This method, unlike traditional approaches, eliminates the need for a heart-lung machine. We carefully monitored the heart and gave medications to keep the blood pressure and sugar levels normal during the surgery," said Vivek Jawali, Chairman of Cardiac Sciences at Fortis.

"We took four blood vessels from the patient's body to create new pathways around the blocked arteries in the heart. This helped improve blood flow to the heart muscle," he added.

The whole surgery took about 260 minutes (a little over four hours), and the patient was stable, the doctor said.

The team also deployed a laparoscopic extended right hemicolectomy to remove a portion of the colon affected by cancer, along with a laparoscopic cholecystectomy for the removal of gallbladder stones.

"This intricate procedure demanded precise coordination, and it minimised surgical risks and facilitated a smoother and faster recovery for the patient," Ganesh Shenoy, Director -- GI, Minimal Access and Bariatric Surgery at Fortis, added.

The patient was discharged from the hospital 15 days after the surgery and has since resumed his normal daily activities without any complications, the doctors said.

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