Complex surgery performed on patient from T.N.

The medical team at KIMSHEALTH, Thiruvananthapuram, performed a complex surgery on a Tamil Nadu native whose oxygen level had dangerously dropped due to blood clots in the pulmonary arteries. 

The 49-year-old patient, who was undergoing treatment for deep vein thrombosis, arrived at KIMSHEALTH with severe shortness of breath and swelling in the leg. 

Although a coronary angiogram showed normal blood vessels, her oxygen level —which should ideally be between 95% and 100% — had dropped to a life-threatening low of 80%. A subsequent CT pulmonary angiography revealed blood clots in the arteries of the lungs.

Doctors decided to proceed with a pulmonary thromboendarterectomy to remove the clots. With the aid of a heart-lung machine, the patient’s body temperature was lowered to 18 degrees Celsius to control blood flow and prepare for surgery. 

Blood clots in both the left and right pulmonary arteries were successfully removed. The surgery lasted approximately eight hours, during which blood flow was temporarily stopped and restarted every 30 minutes.

“After the surgery, the patient was successfully weaned off the heart-lung machine and placed on a ventilator in the ICU. A week later, as she was able to breathe normally without oxygen support, she was discharged. Currently, the patient’s oxygen level has risen to 95%, which is within the normal range,” said Dr. Shaji Palangadan, senior consultant, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery.