Dubai: A Filipino lady, diagnosed with a huge tumour extending from the pelvis and the abdomen to her chest, has been successfully treated following a unique surgery at an Abu Dhabi hospital.
The patient, 32, had been complaining of breathlessness and pain in the abdomen when she visited the Lifeline Hospital in November, Dr Sajira Bhasi, Lifeline's Specialist Gynaecologist, said. Dr Bhasi, who discovered the benign tumour through an ultrasound, said she decided to remove it through the minimal incision technique to achieve minimal blood loss and scarring, with less recovery time.
The surgery, performed on November 23, 2009, resulted in a loss of less than 20ml of blood and 4.7kg of fluid was removed using a technique called interventional ultrasonography under general anaesthesia, she said. The tumour weighed 1.7kg and by the end of the operation, a total mass of 6.4kg was removed without any damage to the uterus or ovaries, Dr Bhasi said. "The patient was discharged within 24 hours after the operation," she added.
"She is recovering well," said the patient's husband, a contracting and maintenance businessman.
Dr Bhasi said the minimal incision technique is a specialised surgical method practised by some physicians to remove masses.
"Most surgeons usually cut along three-fourth to the full length of the mass to access or remove it. But with the minimal incision technique, the cut is usually 1/10th the size of the underlying mass and the surgeon dissects it out through the incision. In this case, the tumour was reduced to 1/5th its size by ultrasonographical aspiration," she said.
