Rendering complex and lifesaving surgeries during this pandemic crisis is a big challenge; and Kovai Medical Center and Hospital (KMCH) has been delivering the finest healthcare in the city, even for most complex cases during this hard times.
The case of a 60-year old male patient who was referred to KMCH was one such challenging case. The 60-year old male patient came with the history of vomiting blood and passing blood in stools in a collapsed state. The doctors at KMCH found that the patient had underwent an angioplasty with stenting on September 26, 2020 for heart attack and was on medications to prevent blockage of the stent but would increase risk of bleeding.
When the doctor performed a CT scan on the patient at the hospital’s Covid pathway, the scan showed a bleeding point in the patient’s small intestine.
As the patient was subjected to COVID screening (before proceeding with further treatments) he was found to be COVID-positive. There were many challenges for the doctors in treating this patient.
There was an emergency requirement for surgery but if the surgery was performed without paying attention to patient’s COVID-19 condition, it could worsen his health. Another complication was that if the medication for the heart was stopped to prevent further bleeding, it could lead to stent block and also pave way for another heart attack. The specialist team of doctors worked out a safe protocol to mitigate risks – stopping bleeding, decrease the morbidity following emergency surgery, and prevention of another heart attack.
As the treatment for heart was paramount at that time, it was given first. A statement from KMCH said “the patient underwent surgery successfully on October 12, 2020 with the doctors stopping bleeding. We recommenced medications for the heart but novel coronavirus parameters worsened with him requiring breathing support in our COVID ICU. Our infection specialist doctors started on medications enabling improvement from coronavirus. We were able to discharge the patient on 24.10,2020 after recuperation from surgery and Covid and establishing him on safe medications to prevent further heart attack.”
“The family of the patient thanked the team of doctors – Dr.KS Rajkumar (consultant surgeon), Dr.Jones (Consultant Anesthetist), Dr.Arulraj Ramakrishnan (consultant gastroenterologist/hepatologist), Dr.Varun Sundaramoorthy (consultant infectious diseases), Dr.Vijay Anand (consultant physician), Dr.Suresh Kumar (consultant cardiologist) along with our theatre/ICU and ward team.”
Dr. Arun N. Palaniswami, Executive Director, KMCH congratulated the team for taking up this huge challenge, felt that the dedication and ethical mindset of our team along with determination of the hospital to provide services for such complex patients ensured a successful outcome and expressed his warm welcome to the family for bestowing confidence in KMCH for this remarkable feat.