IMPHAL, May 3 – After registering a record in the Guinnesss Book of World Records by Moiranthem Okendra by planting the tallest “topiary plant (duranta)” it is now the turn of doctors serving in a private hospital to claim a similar record by performing a record operation in this tiny State. A team of doctors from Shija Hospital and Research Institute, a high-tech private hospital located at the foothill of Langol Hill Range near Imphal, added another feather in the State’s cap in this competitive world by removing the largest neck tumour (1.2 kg) from a 12-day-old infant.
The leader of the pack was chairman-cum-managing director of the hospital Dr Khundongbam Palin. The tumour weighs 1.2 kg which was 40 percent of the baby’s total weight. The previous record was that of a tumour which was 10 percent of the total body weight of the patient.
However what is of immense interest is not the record itself but the story that went behind the successful removal of the tumour. Dr Kh Palin, while speaking to The Assam Tribune, termed “ the operation as a surgical and infrastructure challenge.
The baby boy was born through caesarean section at Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (rims) Imphal on March 5, 2003 and admitted to the Shija Hospital on March 15 last year with a huge swelling at the right side of the neck, he added. With no other alternative, anaethetist and child specialist were consulted and a consensus was reached for an early operation, he said. Later a team of doctors led by Dr Palin and consisting of Dr S Jugindro, Suprintendent of the Hospital , Dr Mrs Kh Bonney, Dr T Sanayaima, Dr Anjay B and other ancillary staff operated the swelling under general anaesthesia on March 17 last year which took 35 minutes with minimum blood loss.
“As the risk factor was very high, the child was monitored intensively for a day. Breast feeding was started on the 3rd operative day” he informed. Today the baby boy, called Satyajit, is over one year old. Unfortunately the child is suffering from a malignant condition (germ cell tumour) entirely different from the previous benign condition for which he is undergoing treatment, he said. The mother of the child, Pebam Ongbi Bilashini, while interacting with this Correspondent said, “I was so happy when there was the sign of improvement in my child. This credit goes to one and all in the hospital. I still pray to God for my child’s improvement in future too.”
Meanwhile echoing the same feeling, Dr S Jugindro felt that even though Manipur is a tiny State, its doctors with advanced hi-tech equipment, can excel if only they manage to channelise their talents.