Bhubaneswar: In a first-of-its-kind in Odisha, doctors at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital conducted a rare procedure wherein they removed a benign brain tumour through the trans-nasal route without opening the skull.
The patient, Silu Jena, a 31-year-old electrician from Nabarangpur, had come to SUM Hospital complaining of headache on the right side, double vision in the right eye and numbness on the right side of the face for the last few months.
According to Dr Radhamadhab Sahu, internationally renowned expert in ENT and Endoscopic Skull Base surgery, an MRI of the brain suggested that it was a case of ‘Trigeminal Schwannoma’.
“This is a benign tumour arising from the nerve sheath,” Dr Sahu said.
Though the conventional approach to this type of tumour is an open craniotomy (surgical removal of a portion of the skull to reach the tumour), Dr Sahu and Dr S. Panigrahi decided to perform Advanced Endoscopic Skull Base surgery without leaving any scar on the patient. This endo-nasal endoscopic approach provides a direct trajectory to the tumour with minimal risk.
