Guwahati (The Stellar News): Little unusual, but the Apollo Chennai doctors have successfully performed a carotid endarterectomy on a 93-year-old patient using regional anaesthesia where the patient was awake during the entire procedure. The life-saving surgery was performed after he was diagnosed with multiple blocks in the arteries supplying blood to the brain. The patient used to have frequent episodes of falls and giddiness. Moreover, he was suffering from hypertension and bronchial asthma for many years.
“Carotid arteries are major blood vessels in the neck that supply blood to the brain, neck, and face. There are a pair of carotid arteries on both sides of the neck. The particular patient had 99 percent block in the right carotid arteries. The blood flow to his brain was very minimal, causing dizziness and other problems,” said a recent statement issued by the Apollo Chennai hospital authority.
It may be mentioned that the brain needs a constant supply of Oxygen and nutrients to work correctly. Even a brief break in blood supply
can cause problems. The brain cells start to die after just a few minutes without Oxygen. The narrowing of the carotid arteries can
reduce the blood flow and finally it may lead to a brain stroke, added the statement.
Senior vascular & endo vascular surgeon Dr V Balaji stated that the blockage in the blood vessels going to the brain can be cleared with
an aim to prevent strokes. The Apollo Chennai hospital has performed more than 700 carotid endarterectomy procedures in the last twenty
years under regional anaesthesia which reduces postoperative complications to minimum. The post operative success rates remain 99%
as the nonagenarian patient also made a quick and excellent recovery.
He however clarified that the procedure is not applicable for a person who had a massive stroke, but for someone who has the initial symptoms of the disaster. Any person who notices symptoms of transient ischemic attack like muscle weakness, difficulty speaking or understanding speech, dizziness or loss of balance, double vision, etc should consult with the doctors and get treated at the earliest.
“Strokes affect approximately 1.8 million people in India per year and it is undoubtedly the most disabling disease in addition to causing
death in some cases. In fact, every 20 seconds one Indian suffers a brain stroke and shockingly the numbers are growing due to changing
lifestyles,” said Suneeta Reddy, managing director of Apollo group of hospitals, adding that 90 % of stroke patients fail to reach the
hospital within the golden hour.
