Ahmedabad doctors perform risky surgery on 82-year-old

Masumali Rajani, an 82-year-old resident of Bhavnagar, showed true grit and resilience while going through a complicated operation here.

Rajani was admitted to Sterling Hospital with severe abdominal discomfort and unexplained weight loss and was diagnosed to have a 10-cm malignant tumour in his liver. Surgical removal of the cancer was the only option to save his life, said doctors.

Dr  Hitesh Chavda, director of the hepatobiliary and liver transplant unit at Sterling Hospital said, "We generally do not advise old age patients for surgical options, as surgery often becomes a high risk for them. However, in Rajani's case the surgery was the only way we could possibly save his life"

Rajani was operated upon on July 16 by a team of doctors that included Dr Vismit Joshipura, Dr Ashish Parikh and Dr Kinjal Pandya. "The surgery conducted to remove a coconut-sized tumour took 7 hours. Generally patients who undergo such a long surgery at the age of 60 to 65 require a minimum four-day stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) and have to be supported by ventilator," informed Chavda. However, Rajani had to stay in the ICU for only two days and he did not require ventilator support at all.