Shija hospital performs removal of life-threatening blood clot from lungs
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 28 2021: Shija Hospitals and Research Institute (SHRI) has performed removal of a life-threatening blood clot from the lungs of a patient.

The life-saving surgery was performed by Dr Gautam Thangjam, who is a super-specialist in Neuro Vascular and Interventional Radiology and his team, said a statement issued by SHRI.

On November 7, 2021, a 87 year old gentleman was rushed to the Emergency Department of Shija Hospitals & Research Institute (SHRI) with severe pain & swelling over both lower limbs.

He had severe difficulty breathing as well.

Earlier he had undergone hip surgery at another hospital in the city.

Due to severe difficulty in breathing, he was referred to SHRI.

The Emergency Team at SHRI went about to rapidly investigate and arrive at a diagnosis.

Apart from the routine investigation, CT Pulmonary angiography, D-Dimer, Doppler were done which revealed that a life-threatening blood clot was lodged in the very vital artery of the lung (Pulmonary Embolism).

Due to blocked blood supply and lack of oxygen, a large part of the lung had started to die (Lung Infarct).

To understand the origin of such a life-threatening blood clot, Doppler studies of the blood vessels in the legs were done.

It was found that deep veins of both legs had developed extremely dangerous blood clots (DVT- Deep Vein Thrombosis) which commonly happens in limbs that are immobilized for a long period.

Sometimes, a part of these blood clots detach in the limbs and flow in the blood to be caught in smaller blood vessels of the lungs or the brain (Clot Embolism), said the statement.

After detecting the clot in the lung, which if not treated, the patient would die, Dr Gautam Thangjam, Consultant Neuro-Vascular & Interventional Radiologist at SHRI shifted the patient urgently to the high-end Cath-Lab.

Under real-time X-ray guidance (Fluoroscopy) and through a needle puncture in one of the thigh veins, he maneuvered a long thin instrument (Penumbra) up to the blood clot in the lung and withdrew the large blood clot & subsequently opened the blocked artery.

The blood flow was immediately restored completely within the lung.

This saved the patient from further lung damage and possible heart failure and death.

He also removed the blood clots in both legs through pinhole surgery and placed an IVC filter to prevent further clot migration.

The treating team was extremely happy that they could save the patient using rare high-tech facilities & expertise at Shija Hospitals which are available only in very few select hospitals in India.

Dr Gautam Thangjam is also credited to have performed this extremely critical surgery of Pulmonary Embolectomy & Thrombolysis for the first time in 2017 and since then he has saved six such patients in Manipur.

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