BEAMS doctors enter Guinness Book for fibroid removal

Chennai, Sep 14: Doctors of the Mumbai-based Bombay Endoscopy Academy and Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery (BEAMS) have made their way into the Guinness Book of World Records by removing through laparascopy the 'world's heaviest fibroid'.

Hospital Managing Director Dr Rakesh Sinha told reporters here yesterday the fibroid, which weighed 3.4 kg and measured 20X12 cm, it was removed using minimally invasive surgery, with incisions no more than half an inch.

A team of surgeons led by him and Dr Neeta Warty of Beams had been using this surgical technique for several years, making BEAMS a super-speciality hospital for women, he said.

His name had also been featured in the Limca Book of Records. He had published in international journals on the subject.

Dr Sinha claimed Beams Hospital was the first to start a fibroid clinic in the country and that he had not only been treating patients with fibroids, but was also involved in training doctors in this high-precision, key-hole surgery.

Laparoscopy ensures early recovery of the patient. One-day stay in the hospital was enough and there was less post-operative pain.

Dr Sinha said they had gone through proper channels before seeking an entry into the Guinness Book. It was a matter of great pride that the surgery could be performed in India and it was a clear signal to the world that medical expertise was of the highest standards here. This was good recognition to the medical fraternity and Indian surgeons. However, the patient's name and details were being kept confidential he said.

Dr Sinha said in this country approximately two- and- a -half lakh women suffered from fibroids. Fibroids affected 25 per cent of the women between the age of 18 and 50. Besides the discomfort and pain, the greatest trauma of a fibroid patient was that it could hamper pregnancy and child birth. Fibroids would not respond to medicines drugs and required surgical intervention if they grew abnormally.

He announced that the hospital proposed to set up its first Fibroid Clinic in Chennai soon as they were receiving a lot of patients from here.

He claimed that till date they had performed close to 1,000 fibroid removal surgeries through laparascopy. Last year, they performed close to 400 surgeries and got interesting statistics which showed that 40 per cent of the patients whom they operated on for removing fibroids were North Indians.

While in most cases fibroids did not have any symptoms, in some women heavy bleeding and painful periods, feeling of fullness in the pelvic area, frequent urination, pain during sex, lower back pain, reproductive problems, miscarriages and early onset of labour during pregnancy were present.

Till now, it was not known why fibroids occurred. Fibroids were rarely cancerous, the chances being less than 0.1 per cent, he added.

UNI