Ahmedabad: Hospitals reel under shortage of Cardiac disposables

Ahmedabad: The city hospitals have been reeling under a shortage of cardiac disposable accessories as the oxygenators used for open-heart surgeries are severe short in supply.

An oxygenator is a medical device that is capable of exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood of a human patient during surgical procedures that may necessitate the interruption or cessation of blood flow in the body, a critical organ or a great blood vessel. 

Oxygenators are usually imported from the US and other parts of the European countries and do not come in bulk which has led the hospitals to struggle with the device. The experts are blaming the Ukraine conflict and lockdown in China as the reason for the slow-paced supply of the device and there is also no certainty about when the regular supply of the devices will resume.

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Gujarat hospitals perform around 24,000 coronary artery bypass, or complex procedures on the aorta or the heart each year, however, the shortage of disposable accessories and low supply of oxygenators created a huge problem for the hospital surgeons to operate on the patients.

Dr Anil Jain, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Epic Hospital told TOI "We perform about 10-odd surgeries daily that require the machine. As of today, we have stock of only 15-20 oxygenators with us. We are searching frantically with all possible suppliers across India to ensure that we can remain on schedule for live-saving procedures. Other disposables such as intra-aortic balloon pump and catheter are also in short supply."

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Dr Tushar Shah, a cardiothoracic surgeon associated with multiple city-based hospitals including SAL Hospital and Rajasthan Hospital, said "If the supply of disposables including oxygenators is not restored to meet demand, it will adversely impact the entire sector. We are deferring some surgeries if the patient is not in dire need of the procedure," he said, adding that the community has appealed to the government to intervene.

Nirmal Chaddha, a city-based supplier of medical equipment, said "The inventory of the equipment for cardiac surgeries such as oxygenators and intra-aortic balloon pumps and catheters is at an all-time low. We have already requested several doctors and hospitals to first consult us about the availability of the same before planning surgery. To give you an example, if we order 100 oxygenators, we are getting 20."