Chennai  :

Anbazhagan, a chain smoker and diabetic, was admitted to Government General Hospital in Chennai recently with severe gangrene on his left toes.

Even after three of his toes were removed at a private hospital, tests at GH showed that he had a major block on his left leg which was interrupting blood flow.

Instead of performing a major surgery which would have required cutting his thigh open, doctors performed an endovascular procedure which requires only a needle-sized puncture and removed the block.

Along with Anbazhagan, 11 other patients benefited from a similar procedure at the hospital which is painless and leaves no scar.

Endovascular therapy is an offshoot of the developments that have happened in the field of cardiology. “Occlusive diseases of the arteries in any part of the body can be subjected to either balloon angioplasty or stenting as the situation demands. Compared to conventional open surgeries, this procedure is very minimally invasive and there is no need for extended hospital stay,” said Dr M Rajkumar, director, Institute of Vascular Surgery.

He pointed out that through this procedure, apart from preventing limb loss, lives of critically ill patients can also be saved.

Though the procedure costs several lakhs rupees in private hospitals, the patients were treated for free under the chief minister’s health insurance scheme.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Janani Sampath, TNN / July 01st, 2014