36 years old woman undergoes tumour removal surgery at RIMS
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 01 2023:
Doctors at RIMS Imphal successfully carried out a 7-hour operation to remove a sizable tumour from the tongue of a 36-year old woman and reconstruct a major portion of the muscular organ on November 17 .
The woman who was afflicted with tongue cancer is a mother of two, hailing from Song Song village at Mao Gate in Senapati district, said a press release issued by N Phillip Singh, media advisor, RIMS Imphal.
The team of doctors was led by Dr AK Ibohal Singh, Associate Professor & HOD, Department of Plastic Surgery, RIMS, Imphal and comprised Dr P Manisana, Dr Angelica L (Assistant Professor) and Dr Manish R (Senior Resident, ENT) .
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As the tumour was quite big measuring 4.1 x 3.7 x 3.2 cm, a team of anaesthesiologists led by Professor S Sarat Singh and Dr I Joyshankar performed awake fiber-optic nasal intubation to put the patient to sleep.
After removing 60% of the tongue along with draining the lymph nodes from the neck, the plastic surgeons harvested tissues from the forearm, known as free radial artery forearm flap, folded it upon itself into the shape of a tongue and attached it to the remainder of the tongue with sutures, informed the release.
Further, to restore blood flow to the flap, the blood vessels in the flap (radial artery and cephalic vein) were joined one by one to the blood vessels in the neck (facial artery and external jugular vein) by a technique known as micro vascular anastomosis which was done using a microscope.
Two weeks after the major operation, the patient is reported to be in good health and has started accepting liquids orally and can speak, although with some difficulty.
It is also worth noting that the operation was made possible with the team effort of doctors, theatre nurses, namely, Nursing Officers, Ch Rita Devi and M Pramod, OT technicians and other ancillary staff.