Bengaluru: Teams of doctors came forward to help a 31-year-old man get rid of a tumour weighing 8 kgs from the right side of his face. The treatment cost went up to Rs 72.73 lakh and most of it was crowdfunded.
Manbodh Bagh from Odisha’s Titilagarh had been suffering from a rare condition — plexiform neurofibroma — a benign tumour of peripheral nerves since childhood. The tumour grew with age.
The doctors, who admitted Bagh for treatment at Aster CMI Hospital here, said the man had faced humiliation from several people for his looks and had knocked the doors of multiple hospitals for partial resection of the tumour.
“However, he was denied surgery as his chance of survival was bleak if they had gone ahead with his surgery due to the risk of torrential bleeding. At a major hospital in Odisha, his case was reviewed, surgery was attempted and was later abandoned due to uncontrolled bleeding,” the doctors noted as reported by The Indian Express.
The patient was made to undergo 16 different surgical procedures in about six months, Experts from the field of neurosurgery, plastic surgery, oncology, ENT, neuro-anaesthesia, and ophthalmology among other departments worked together to ensure the tumour was removed safely.
“Bagh came to us with a prodigious tumor extending from his head till the neck. After undergoing unsuccessful debulking surgeries, his tumor was deemed inoperable. His CT scan also showed his facial bones were destroyed by the tumor. Dealing with such highly complex cases often requires different modalities of treatment and a multi-disciplinary approach. So, the team carefully evaluated the case and provided a seamless approach to the treatment. During the surgery, to minimise the bleeding, we planned for preop tumor embolisation,” lead consultant – neurosurgery & chief of neurosciences at the hospital, Dr Ravi Gopal Varma was quoted as saying by the national daily.
The team succeeded in removing the tumour and restore the facial bone. “With his CT scans data, a 3D printed skull model of his face was made to assess the extent of the tumor and designed excision plan and reconstruction,” consultant – craniomaxillofacial surgery, Dr Sathish M S Vasishta said.
After 48 hours of the removal of the tumour, another team led by lead and senior consultant – plastic surgery, Dr Madhusudan G, a reconstruction surgery was done.
“Most of his facial skin had to be removed as the tumor was densely adherent, resulting in a large composite skin and soft tissue defect over the entire right half of the face. Reconstruction of such large defects which need microsurgical tissue transfer was challenging due to preoperative embolisation,” said Dr Madhusudan.
Over 8,700 donors across the globe crowdfunded the surgery, Co-founder and President of Milaap, Anoj Viswanathan said. “The timely updates posted on the fundraiser page helped the donors stay connected with him throughout his recovery journey. This has made a profound impact on not only Bagh’s life but has also given hope to many such people suffering from rare diseases,” said Viswanathan.
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