Bengaluru: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was operated on Wednesday at Narayana Health City in Bengaluru for the persistent cough, which has troubled him for over 40 years.
The surgery corrected an anatomical abnormality of his oral-pharyngeal and palatal area, which was causing small amounts of saliva to trickle into his air passages whenever his nose breathing was affected by allergy or other factors. Prof. Dr. Paul C Salins, Medical Director & Vice President, Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center, Narayana Health City made the diagnosis initially on the basis of observing the pattern of his bouts of coughing; it was confirmed by detailed computer analytics of cephalometrics, modeling simulation, also dynamic MRI and Video Fluroscopic examinations.

A restricted space for the movement of his tongue and an enlarged soft palate and uvula in relation to a slight increase in the volume of the tongue caused kinematic problems in function.  The surgery involved correction of a significant septal spur by Dr. Suhel Hasan, Head of Oto-Laryngology  and the palato-pharyngeal correction along with repositioning the tongue base relationship by reorganization  of the chin area by Prof. Dr. Paul C. Salins assisted by Dr. Samarth Shetty and Dr. Praveen Ganesh of the Department of Craniofacial Surgery at Narayana Health City in Bengaluru. The aim of the correction was functional restoration rather than that of a disease.

The surgery was uneventful. Soon after the surgery, Arvind Kejriwal spoke to his family members and had a few sips of water.  He is expected to be fully functional in a couple of days although recovery of such a long-standing problem with its own functional accommodation will be gradual.