Madurai: GRH doctors save man who spent 30 years in hernia hell

Madurai: Ignoring a medical condition for 30 years was the biggest mistake of his life. However, thanks to the doctors at the Government Rajaji Hospital, a 53-year-old man from Ramanathapuram district is on the path to normal life.

R Xavier from Kamuthi in Ramanathapuram did not seek proper treatment when he was diagnosed with hernia all those years ago. He approached a few private practitioners and consumed tablets even as his scrotum was bulging. He expected the problem to cure by itself. But it only worsened. Over the years, almost 90% of his intestine, which was supposed to be inside stomach, slipped down into the scrotum.

Doctors said it had developed into scrotal abdomen, a condition, where intestine slips into scrotum. The condition worsened to an extent that the man could not move freely. In fact, the scrotum has bulged down to an extent it almost touched the ground in the standing position. This is what happens when intestine weighing almost 20kgs comes into the scrotum.

A team led by Dr S Selvachidambaram and Dr P Amudha carried out the five-hour-long surgery, during which, the intestine was placed back in the stomach.

Although hernia surgeries are common, the complicated part in this case was relocating the huge intestine back into the stomach. Since the problem has been there for several years, the body adopted to a major blood circulation in the scrotum. Reversing the circulation all of a sudden could have caused severe complications. The chances of the patient undergoing suffocation or even cardiac arrest was high, and that is where anesthetists played a vital role.

Dr C Ganesh Prabhu, director of the Institute of Anesthesiology, who lead the anesthesia team says, "We normally go for spinal anesthesia for hernia cases but in this case it was ruled out considering the complications involved. Instead, we gave general anesthesia. The patient has been kept in ventilator support for the next two days."