Media Release

Mangaluru, Jul 24: Covid-19 has played havoc in millions of lives, some more than others. While health care facilities all over had been stretched to their limits and beyond, it is also important to know that with great risk to the patients and health care providers, many life saving complex surgeries had to also be performedin the midst of the second wave of Covid. Two such life-altering surgeries were successfully performed at city's Srinivas Medical College.

Manjunath, a 35-year-old bread-winner of a family from Karwar, met with a road traffic accident due to which he suffered severe head and chest injuries, and an unstable cervical spine (neck) fracture with near complete paralysis of all four limbs. He required prolonged surgery on the neck to prevent further injury to the spinal cord and to aid in recovery, but unfortunately had severe breathing difficulties and was not fit to undergo any major surgeries.

Initial tests revealed that he was positive for Covid-19 which made treatment even more complicated due to need for isolation and risk that any prolonged surgery would pose. He underwent tracheostomy (tube inserted into the windpipe from the neck) to help with caring for lungs during Covid isolation in ICU.

With concerted efforts from department of medicine - Dr Anitha, Dr Sunil and team, anaesthesia - Dr Prashanth Kumar and team, neurosurgery - Dr Deepak Suraparaju, junior resident Dr Alam, postgraduate students, nursing, and support staff, all vigilantly ensuring that he does not develop any complications related to paralysis, bed-ridden status or infections, he recovered from Covid-19 and successfully underwent cervical spine decompression and fixation using titanium screws and rods under neurosurgery care.

With rehabilitation, his limb power gradually improved, and he was able to sit without support and discharged about 26 days post admission. He is expected to make a complete recovery with time.

Amba Shetty, a 76-year-old grandmother of a family from Suratkal, was brought in coma state because of large intracranial bleeding because of a rupture in giant middle cerebral artery aneurysm with hydrocephalus (rupturing of a balloon like growth in the arteries carrying blood to the brain). Recognizing the implications of her age, comorbidities and potentially devastating complications of Covid cross infection, in a hospital setting (from asymptomatic carriers or false negative patients), the neurosurgical, ICU, anaesthesia teams ensured strict isolation protocols followed by early surgical clipping of aneurysm with evacuation of bleeds and treatment of hydrocephalus, which are a complex set of surgical steps requiring multiple hours and use of advanced surgical aids such as operative microscope, fine micro instruments, and micro titanium clips among others.

With successful surgery and intensive post-operative care, she made a miraculous recovery and was discharged within 9 days of hospital admission. She is healthy and nearly independent with most of her activities as of today.