SMIMER feat: 19 gall bladder ops in 8 hrs

Surat: A senior surgeon and his team performed 19 laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal) surgeries in eight hours at Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research (SMIMER) on Tuesday. Majority of the patients were migrants. The feat is uncommon for a Surat Municipal Corporation run hospital.The surgeries were done by Dr Harish Chauhan, professor at department of surgery and Dr Malti Pandya, anaesthetist, at SMIMER. “Normally the surgery costs more than Rs 50,000. But at SMIMER, the patient had to spend only Rs 500,” Dr Chauhan told TOI. The patients were in the age group of 40-50 years and belonged to families that cannot afford the surgery in a private hospital. Dr Chauhan is one of the senior most doctors in SMIMER. “There can be stone in gall bladder or some other complications for which removal of gall bladder is the only option. It can trouble the patient in many ways including pain and uneasiness,” said Dr Chauhan. Daily three to four patients come with complications related to gallbladder at SMIMER. “We planned to carry out the surgeries at one go so that we can cater to maximum patients. It shows the efficiency of our team to carry out several surgeries in one shift,” said Dr Chauhan.