Mangaluru: A 9-year-old girl in India underwent a successful supra-major surgery at Yenepoya Medical College, where over 40 cancer deposits were removed in a 10-hour operation. The child’s full recovery was achieved in 9 days, marking the first time such a surgery was performed in India. The surgery was performed by Dr Jalaluddin Akbar and his team.

From the 9th month of her life, she suffered from cancer in 4 different parts of the body, eye, thigh bone, intestine and lung. She was treated for eye cancer at Arvind Hospital Madurai and Centre for Sight Hyderabad at the age of 9 months. For the bone tumour in the thigh, she was treated in Lakeshore Hospital Kochi and SVT Hospital Trivandrum in the year 2021.

In the Year 2022, she was treated in Kochi for lung secondaries(Spread to the lung). In the year 2023, she was treated for intestine cancer at Government College Trivandrum after which the patient was treated in Mythra Hospital Calicut, during this time she developed again cancer with secondaries to the lung which needed further surgery.

So patient management was taken up in the national cancer grid for discussion regarding further management which comprises more than 250 hospitals across India. It was during the discussion decided that the young girl needed to undergo surgery to remove the cancer. Since it was a very complex and difficult surgery the patient party was asked to consult Tata Memorial Hospital or Dr Jalaluddin Akbar in Mangalore.

They preferred to come to Dr Jalaluddin Akbar in Mangalore. Doctors then discussed the case again in the Zulekha Yenepoya Institute of Oncology Tumour Board. Then cancer surgery was decided to take place in Yenepoya Medical College Hospital due to advanced infrastructure. The surgery lasted 10 hours and all tumours were removed from the lung along with two ribs, which is the highest so far removed in India. The surgery was successful and the child recovered in 9 days.

The surgical team comprised Dr Jalaluddin Akbar, Dr Rohan Shetty, Dr H T Amar Rao, Dr Noor Mohammed under the able guidance of Dr Vijayakumar M The anaesthesia team was headed by Dr Thippeswamy, Dr Sandesh from the Department of Pediatrics, Dr Adarsh from Department of Pulmonology, Dr Vineeth Intensivist were all involved in the management of the patient for a speedy recovery.