Twitter
Advertisement

Bariatric op lets obese polio patient breathe again

Bariatric surgeries may be gaining ground with a lot of people, but 37-year-old Sanjay Ugale was an unlikely candidate for the operation performed on him on Tuesday to treat what is dismissed by some as a 'first world' disease.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Bariatric surgeries may be gaining ground with a lot of people, but 37-year-old Sanjay Ugale was an unlikely candidate for the operation performed on him on Tuesday to treat what is dismissed by some as a 'first world' disease.

Afflicted by polio, the vegetable vendor from Goregaon did not get much physical activity, causing him to pile on up to 95 kg. The weight gain, in turn, led him to develop severe breathing complications some six months ago. It also put pressure on his waist, causing him immense agony.
After undergoing medical investigations, he found out that shedding the weight was his best option.

He contacted Dr Sanjay Borude, a bariatric surgeon attached with different hospitals in the city.

On Tuesday, Ugale underwent the surgery at Brahma Kumaris' Global Hospital and Research Centre (earlier called BSES) in Santacruz. Doctors have to wait a month to asses the impact of the surgery.

"Before the surgery, we evaluated Ugale's health, because in my 15-years-long career, I am seeing such a patient for the first time. Due to his polio, he had kyphoscoliosis - a combination of kyphosis and scoliosis - which is an abnormal curvature of the spine in both coronal and sagittal planes. We took all these points into consideration before operating on him. Only after a thorough medical investigation did we take the call to perform a surgery on him," said, Dr Borude.

He added, "There are different kinds of procedure for weight-loss surgery and we found that sleeve gastrectomy was good for Ugale. Also, his breathing problem came under control after the surgery."

Ugale, who has three kids, said after the surgery, "I am the only working member in my family. My wife also has polio, but all my kids are normal. For the last few months, the increasing weight became an issue for me, affecting my breathing, and I decided to go under the knife. I have complete faith in the doctors and now we are waiting for the result."
Fortunately for Ugale, the surgeon as well as the hospital waived the surgery cost, which ran up to about Rs1 lakh.

Dr Shashank Shah, ex-president, Obesity Surgery Society of India, said, "This is an unusual case because obesity was found in a polio patient. But there is lack of awareness about this among patients. Such kind of surgery helps reduce the weight and eliminate problems associated with obesity."

Sleeve gastrectomy
Sleeve gastrectomy is a restrictive form of weight-loss surgery in which approximately 85% of the stomach is removed, leaving a cylindrical or sleeve-shaped stomach. Removal of a major part of the stomach results in the virtual elimination of ghrelin (or hunger) hormones, which stimulate hunger. It gives the feeling of instant fullness after a light meal.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement