AIIMS Doctors Perform Surgery Of Rare Cancer To Save Young Woman’s Life In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: A group of young doctors at AIIMS in Bhubaneswar has successfully performed surgery on a young woman for treatment of Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, a rare type of larynx cancer.

The 25-year-old patient from Jagatsinghpur district had come to All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) after failing to get cured for the ailment in several hospitals. The doctors in AIIMS found that she was affected with advanced stage of the cancer at the junction of food and wind pipe, causing difficulty in breathing and swallowing.

Unlike the usual type of cancer, this was resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. With progression of the diseases, the voice, respiration and food intake for the patient became challenging.

With no other option in hand, the surgeons operated upon the patient with a newer approach to save her life. The group of 10 doctors from departments of ENT and Surgical Gastroenterology took 14 hours to perform the challenging procedure.

The ENT surgeon removed the voice box (Larynx), upper part of the wind pipe (Trachea), Pharynx, upper part of food pipe (Esophagus) and part of the thyroid gland. Gastrosurgeon dissected the colon and mobilised it into the neck through a tunnel made between the Sternum (breast bone) and the heart connecting the base of tongue with the stomach, making a new food channel. Post operation, the patient was managed in ICU.

After two months of surgery, the patient is doing well with normal breathing and food intake.

Dr Ashutosh Biswas, Executive Director, AIIMS congratulated the team of doctors for the life saving surgery.
Dr Dillip Kumar Samal, Associate Professor of ENT, Dr Tanmay Dutta, Assistant Professor of Surgical Gastroenterology and Dr Ajitesh Sahu, Asst. Prof. (Anaesthesia) of Trauma & Emergency led the procedure. Dr Pradipta Kumar Parida, HoD ENT guided the team.