Rare procedure cures backache, homemaker gets back to chores

Coimbatore: Fifty-six-year-old Rani, a resident of Nedupalayam village in Kodumudi near Erode, had experienced severe backache two weeks ago. Doctors found her suffering from a large aneurysm in her aorta, a condition that could lead to death. Thanks to a rare medical procedure, Rani is now cured and is back to doing household chores.

“When Rani complained of back pain, her family took her to local hospitals. An X-ray showed a white shadow in the chest region. She was then asked to undergo CT scan,” said the cardiovascular surgeon at Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, Dr S Thiagarajamurthy. “The scan showed that there was a large aneurysm in the thoracic aorta, shaped like a sack. It had spread up to the thighs,” the doctor said.

The aneurysm was pressing the nerves on her back, causing backpain, the doctor told TOI. “Usually, the chest is opened and a procedure is performed to remove the aneurysm. The procedure is long and involves the risk of the patient developing morbidity. The procedure also has a 10% risk of death,” he said.

“We used endovascular aneurysm repair. In this method, the chest is not opened. Instead, a graft is inserted via blood vessel in the groin using image guidance technology,” the doctor said.

“The graft has markers in-built and is mounted on a catheter. The catheter is slowly advanced inside the large artery. It is positioned in place accurately using the markers, which will be seen clearly on the image guidance,” explained the cardiovascular surgeon. This way, blood flow into the aneurysm is cut-off.

Interventional radiologist Dr P Muthurajan and team, along with Dr S Thiagarajamurthy and a cardiothoracic team performed the surgery.

Rani was kept under observation for four days. “She is now stable and visited us for the first review. She is carrying out household chores too,” added Dr Thiagarajamurthy.


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