Bhubaneswar: In a first in Odisha, SUM Ultimate Medicare (SUMUM) has started Plasma Exchange (PLEX) to treat liver injury. The advanced therapy, also known as liver dialysis, was successfully conducted to treat a young woman, according to Dr Gadadhar Panda, Associate Consultant in the GI Sciences department who conducted the procedure. The final cycle was completed on September 22 and the patient was awaiting discharge from the hospital, he added.
The woman had jaundice, severe itching, loss of weight and appetite for over a month when she came to the hospital. Upon evaluation, she was diagnosed with severe liver injury. Since the administration of medicines did not improve her condition, doctors decided to undertake Plasma Exchange, which reduced her jaundice significantly.
Availability of such procedures would go a long way in saving the lives of many patients suffering from acute liver failure or acute liver injury due to various causes induced through alcohol intake, drugs, dengue fever or other reasons, Dr Ayaskant Singh, Senior Consultant, GI Sciences, SUMUM said, adding that “till now, the only option available to patients in such condition was to go for liver transplantation. But now with the advances in medical science, we are able to treat such patients using the much simpler procedure of Plasma Exchange to avoid the prohibitive and morbid surgery.”
Dr Sambit Bhuyan, Associate Consultant of GI Sciences and Dr Sonam Panda of Anesthesiology were also a part of the team.
