Mumbai, Sep 15 (IANS): In what is claimed to be the first of its kind surgery in India, a 25-year-old four-month pregnant woman underwent a laparoscopic ovarian tumour operation in a government hospital here.

"This is the first ever case of its kind in India which has enabled us to save the life of the unborn child," Niranjan Chavan, Head of Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Sion Hospital here, told IANS Wednesday.

The patient, a resident of Mumbai, came to the hospital around a month ago complaining of severe abdominal pain.

She was put through various tests and detailed investigations revealed a seven-month-old large and solid tumour in the left ovary. The patient was already in her fourth month of pregnancy.

"As the pregnancy would have developed, the huge tumour would have pressed the foetus and led to either a miscarriage or a stillborn delivery with possibility of other health complications," explained Chavan.

Chavan and his team counselled the woman for the removal of the tumour as it posed a risk to the pregnancy.

The benign tumour extended four fingers above the umbilicus in the four-month-old pregnancy, so the option of a laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy was recommended for the patient.

"She was successfully operated Aug 31 and the huge tumour was removed, plus over 200 cc of yellow mucinuous fluid, but her ovary was saved," Chavan added.

Lauding Chavan's efforts, Sandhya Kamat, Dean of Sion Hospital, said this was the first case of its kind in the hospital. "It is an unusual, challenging and rare case," said Kamat.

A fortnight after the surgery, the patient is doing fine and there is no danger to the foetus too, Chavan said.