Bhubaneswar: Doctors at Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Campus-2 (Phulnakhara) performed a rare and critical surgery to restore the airway of a 40-year-old cancer survivor who had been struggling to breathe because of complete blockage in his right main bronchus.
A resident of Niali in Cuttack district, the patient had undergone surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer of the tongue in 2024. Over the last two months, however, he developed shortness of breath and severe cough.
His condition worsened, and by the time he was admitted to the hospital’s Pulmonary Medicine department on August 1, the patient’s oxygen saturation had dropped to a dangerously low 84 per cent on room air.
A CT scan of the chest was done, which revealed bilateral hilar lung masses. Video bronchoscopy then showed that the right main bronchus was completely occluded by tumour growth, cutting off airflow to the entire right lung.
It was an extremely critical condition, and the medical team decided to perform central airway tumour debulking a high-risk, technically demanding procedure.
The surgery was carried out in two sessions — on August 2 and August 7 — using cutting-edge cryo probe and electrosnare technology under general anaesthesia. This advanced combination allowed the team to carefully remove the tumour and reopen the airway without damaging surrounding structures.
After the procedure, the patient’s oxygen saturation improved to 98 per cent on room air.
“When the airway is completely blocked, every second counts. The challenge is to restore breathing without causing further injury and that’s where advanced bronchoscopic tools make the difference,” said Dr Swadesh Kumar Mohanty, Associate Professor, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, and the lead surgeon for the case.
The surgery was conducted in close collaboration between the Pulmonary Medicine team comprising Dr Mohanty, Dr Rachita Mohanty, Dr Surjya Shankar Meher and Dr Rajkrishna Behera, and the Anaesthesia team led by HOD Dr Sudeep Mohapatra.
The other members of the team included Dr Jagdish Jena, Dr Ranjita Bokshy, Dr Prajna Nanda, Dr Rohan Roshan Nayak and Dr Pratyasha Nayak.
This case marks another milestone for IMS and SUM Hospital in offering state-of-the-art interventional pulmonology procedures that can change and save lives.
