First ever VATS done on 22-year-old TB patient at Sewri TB Hospital

For the first time in its history, a team of doctors from Sewri TB Hospital successfully performed a Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) on tuberculosis (TB) patient.  

By using the VATS technique, doctors removed the thickened pleura which was wrapped around the right lung of a 22-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh. The man got a discharge 3 days post surgery instead of 10 to 15 days which is the usual time period for discharge after open surgery.

Before coming to Sewri Hospital, the patient underwent aspiration with a needle thrice in 20 days. The condition still persisted and he was selected for VATS Decortication surgery for early recovery. The doctors preferred VATS technique over open as it required smaller cuts and a lesser morbidity.

We are very happy with the achievement as this has happened for the first time in last eight decades. The man is no longer a TB patient. This technique will surely benefit atleast 30% of the patients suffering from TB.

Dr. Lalitkumar Anande Chief Medical Officer of Sewri’s Tuberculosis Hospital

Meanwhile, Dr. Amol Bhanushali, Honorary Thoracic Surgeon at Sewri TB hospital insisted that timely surgical intervention plays a vital role in order to cure TB patients.

The hitch is that most of the patients and even some doctors are unaware of surgical options to treat TB. Surgery, if done at the right time, can help the patient get completely cured of TB much earlier. Positive sputum due to persistent cavities in the lung (even after adequate drug treatment), fungal infection in a cavity, blood in cough, thick pus collection or trapped air between lung & rib cage (causing collapse of lung) are common indications for surgery. In an open surgery, the patient takes 2-3 months to recover, as their chest takes a while to heal. But exactly the same surgery when done by VATS, the patient gets discharged in 3 days and recovers within 2-3 weeks.

Dr Amol Bhanushali, Honorary Thoracic Surgeon

Along with the surgery, an anesthesiologist also plays an important role during the surgery. Dr Krishna Joshi (72), a senior anesthesiologist and an expert in Thoracic Anaesthesia performed for the first ever VATS surgery in TB hospital.

I feel that the challenge is to give proper anaesthesia in thoracic surgery and we need experts who are trained in the same.
Dr Krishna Joshi, senior anesthesiologist