Woman With Rare Congenital Condition Undergoes Challenging Gall Bladder Surgery In Gurgaon

A 46-year-old woman who suffered from a rare congenital condition received a new lease of life after undergoing a challenging single-cut laparoscopic surgery for removal of the gall bladder, doctors said on Tuesday.

The operation took place recently at a leading private hospital in Gurugram.

The hospital in a statement claimed that this was the “first single-port gall bladder surgery of its kind in India, and only the third such surgery, globally.” She was admitted to Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) with complaints of recurrent pain in the upper left side of the abdomen, the hospital authorities said.

The patient suffered from situs inversus totalis, a genetic condition in which the organs in the chest and abdomen are positioned in a mirror image of their normal positions, doctors said.

With mirror-image anatomy, the case presented unique challenges. Surgeons had to “adapt to a reversed orientation,” making this “rare procedure even more remarkable,” the statement said.

“On examination, her ultrasound reports had revealed stones in the gall bladder, which was situated in the left upper abdomen (instead of being on the right side). Not only this, the appendix was also on the left side (instead of right). Her stomach sigmoid colon and her heart were on the right side instead of being on the left,” said Dr Ajay Kumar Kriplani, director of minimal access bariatric and gastrointestinal surgery at FMRI.

The condition was “as rare as it was complex” since being combined with “dextro-cardia, meant that her heart and other vital organs were also mirrored,” doctors said.

Kriplani led a team of skilled doctors on this challenging surgery which was performed “through just one port,” the hospital said.

Despite the complexity of her condition, she was discharged after two days in a stable condition from the hospital, it said.

“For laparoscopic gall bladder removal, a surgeon normally stands on the left side of the patient along with a camera person, and monitors are placed on the right side.

“For situs inversus, we stood on the right side of the patient and the monitor was placed on the left. A single 1.2-cm cut was made in the belly button through which telescope and instruments were inserted and the gall bladder was removed through the same cut,” Kriplani said.