A 36-year-old man from Kolkata underwent a 12-hour-long complex spine surgery at a private hospital in Chennai.
According to a press release, the man was slowly losing control over the functioning of his right hand in the last six months. He underwent a surgery at the age of two for a possible spine infection. He led a normal life until 10 years ago when he started having difficulty in walking and maintaining his balance. He was operated upon twice but his situation did not improve, instead his condition started to deteriorate.
He consulted K. Sridhar, group mentor, neuroscience and director, Kauvery Institute of Brain and Spine, Kauvery Hospital, Kovilambakkam, who was part of the team that operated upon him as a child.
Dr. Sridhar found that he had a complex deformity of the spine between the neck and chest that was compressing the spinal cord and had fluid collection inside the cord which was stuck at the site of the multiple surgeries done in the past.
The team of doctors performed the surgery in three stages on the same day – release of the spinal cord from the back, removal and correction of the compressing deformity from the front and reconstruction of the spinal column from front and back. Post-surgery, his hand function improved considerably and he is walking with minimal support, the release said.