90-year-old man overcomes rare Hiatus hernia through keyhole surgery at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital

New Delhi: Rarest of the Rare Case, when, a 90-year-old man struggled with severe difficulty in breathing and eating. Upon seeking the medical help, doctors discovered that a portion of his stomach had pushed upward into his chest through a small opening in the diaphragm, a condition so rare that it poses a grave threat to life, occurring in less than 1% of cases.  

Despite this critical condition the 90-year-old has not only survived but also made an extraordinary recovery after undergoing a complex laparoscopic surgery for a large Hiatus hernia at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital by keyhole surgery.

This 90-year-old man, in complete despair, was suffering from increasing difficulty while eating. Whenever he ate, he felt heaviness and pain in his chest. He then started vomiting whatever he ate.

The problem got so bad that, scared of the pain and vomiting, he stopped eating and lost 5 kg in 11 days. He gradually also started developing breathlessness. Desperate for help, family visited multiple doctors but faced rejection from numerous hospitals, all of which said that he was too old for the surgery and his case too risky, he could not survive the surgery.

But when he came to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, hope was reignited. He visited Dr Tarun Mittal from the Department of Laparoscopic and Laser Surgery, who decided to help. Dr. Mittal ordered multiple investigations, including an endoscopy, which showed that he had a Hiatus hernia there was a hole in the muscle that separates the chest and abdominal cavity, and through that hole, almost half of his stomach had moved into his chest, making it difficult for him to eat. His hernia was compressing his lungs, which caused breathlessness.

His dedicated team of doctors, unafraid by the challenge, took swift action. With the expertise of their senior anesthetist, they did meticulous pre-surgery workup, and then the decision was made to operate.

The entire surgery was performed by minimally invasive laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery. During the surgery, the team encountered a large hiatus hernia and severe adhesions around the hernia, making the procedure even more complex. Uninitiated, they meticulously performed adhesiolysis to free the hernia. They then pulled the stomach back in the abdominal cavity and closed the defect in his diaphragm. They reinforced it with the latest composite mesh. To ensure the best possible outcome, they also performed a fundoplication.

The result was a miraculous success. The patient not only survived the surgery but also began his recovery with remarkable speed. He was soon started on liquids, began walking the day after surgery, and was discharged well on his way to a full recovery, all thanks to the team Dr Tarun Mittal, Dr Ashish Dey, Dr Anmol Ahuja, Dr Tanushree and Dr Karthik.  

This incredible story stands as a testament to the power of patient willpower, relatives trust and support, appropriate preoperative workup and good surgical team can give good results in complex situations.