~ Doctors perform surgery for 18 hours over 2 days, sets right severe spine deformity

MGM Healthcare experts have performed yet another sophisticated surgery that transformed a 16-year-old boy’s life. Dr. Vijayaraghavan and team successfully completed a spine deformity correction surgery on the patient who was suffering from high grade rigid idiopathic kyphoscoliosis an abnormal curvature of the spine.

This condition, known as kyphoscoliosis is a excessive abnormal sideways and backwards curvature of the spine that most commonly seen in adolescents. Severe scoliosis can be disabling, hence early detection of these deformities is important.

The abnormal curve in the spine of the patient started when he was ten years old, it kept growing and became very pronounced in the last 3 years, making it very difficult for him to carry on with his day-to-day activities. The patient was unable to even lie down flat due to the hunch back. Hailing from a financially weak background, the boy who weighed just 24 kilograms, had to deal with more psychological issues along with his severe spine deformity.

Deformities are usually measured at an angle, curves more than 10 degrees are considered abnormal, but in this case, the boy was brought to MGM Healthcare with more than 100-degree curvature. The problem with neglected spine deformities are, they continue to grow even when the child attains skeletal maturity. When these curves progress they can compress the lungs and cause respiratory failures, henceforth there will be risks to life when the patient reaches 30 years.

The boy never interacted with anyone, owing to the inferiority complex that he had developed over the years. Considering all the practical and medical difficulties he was undergoing Dr. Vijayaraghavan, Senior Consultant and Spine deformity Specialist and team wanted to operate on him as soon as possible as this progressive deformity could compress his lung in the long run.

Speaking about the surgery, Dr. Vijayaraghavan, Senior Consultant, Institute of Neuro Sciences & Spinal Disorders, MGM Healthcare, said, “The patient needed two surgical procedures on two consecutive days under the same anaesthesia. On the first day of the procedure the spine was approached anteriorly (from the front) we opened the chest to loosen up the curve by doing discectomies, this procedure lasted for eight hours. On the second day the spine was approached posteriorly and the spine corrective surgery using rods and screws was performed for ten hours.”

Dr. Vijayaraghavan also added, that, “Risks involved in these surgeries are paralysis, respiratory complications, prolonged ICU care, etc. A multi- disciplinary approach to this procedure eliminates these risks. A team of doctors, including spine deformity surgeon, neuro anaesthetist, neuro physician, paediatric neurologist, pulmonologist, and spine rehabilitation specialist together completed this challenging procedure without any hassle.

The high-end complex surgery was successful only because of the state-of-the-art infrastructure at MGM healthcare along with multi-specialty doctors and support staff. The 16-year-old boy is doing well, now. Experts from MGM Healthcare took up the case as a challenge and treated the boy by having the curve of his spine corrected replacing it as a smile on his face.