Shalby Naroda Saves The Life Of A Corona Positive Patient With Emergency Laparotomy Surgery

A 51 year old male patient, security guard by profession, was admitted to Shalby Multi-specialty Hospitals, Naroda after testing positive for COVID-19.

Initially, he was having cough, fever, breathlessness, abdominal pain with bloody diarrhoea of 2-3 days duration which was progressive and not responding to traditional oral medicines. On investigation, he was found to have poor lung function with oxygen requirement for breathlessness and infection of large intestine and ceacum. In view of poor health, trial with higher antibiotics and watchful observation was tried but not yielded positive results.

With his deteriorating health, an early decision to operate and remove the infected portions of intestine was made by the gastro-surgery team led by Dr Varun Bajaj and supported by Dr Nilesh Kharadi, Surgeon, to ensure that if we operate early, we may be able to save the patient. It was a challenge as to ascertain whether the patient will be able to withstand the surgical stress and all necessary steps and clearances were obtained from Government authorities.

Patient and his relatives were counseled about the complexity of the surgery and his condition. All of them trusted us unconditionally which made us more confident. Changes in regular operating times with minimal and expert staff, personal protective equipment, separate operating room, phased entry, laminar air flow and necessary changes in anesthesia were made. On exploration of abdomen, there was perforation at large intestine and gross spillage of pus and stool within the abdominal cavity. Probably waiting more would have been disastrous. Whole abdomen was thoroughly washed, infected segments of intestines removed and diversion of stool on abdomen was done to promote healing, considering the possible need to give steroids and injection Tocilizumab in postoperative period.

With PPE kits on, it is immensely exhausting to operate and concentrate, as it takes heavy toll on concentration of surgeons as well as the support staff. Repeated fogging of face shield hinders your vision and the ticking clock reminds you of shorter operative time. Constant sweating makes things worse. We were lucky to have completed the operation on time and patient was shifted to ICU unit.

Patient was maintained on ventilator over next 2 days, under close observation of fully trained nursing staff and doctors. Patient eventually recovered completely, taking everything by mouth, carrying out his own routine, walking and most important of all; SMILING with a ray of hope of life, as a result of excellent coordination between treating doctors and staff at Shalby Hospitals, Naroda for 4 -5 days. It was a delight to see smiles on everyone around him. Tears were rolling down his cheeks when he called his son after the surgery.

Constant follow up by specialist doctors, skilled staff, advanced operation theatre, prompt diagnosis, early intervention, hassle free management and Will to Fight for the patient helped us in this life sustaining battle. Our experience suggests that determination and mental strength of any Corona patient predicts its outcome and if we believe in ourselves, we can recover from Corona even in all critical situations.

Still some more time will be needed for the patient to completely recover but where there is a Will there’s a Way. Hopefully his fight will inspire million others to keep on fighting this deadly virus with firm determination and timely treatment