90-year-old man’s stomach went into his chest, doctors performed a complex surgery
A 90-year-old man suffered life-threatening complications from a rare hiatus hernia, requiring complex surgery.
A 90-year-old man was suffering from a rare condition in which a part of his stomach was pushed towards his chest, causing difficulty in breathing and eating.
This condition, which occurs in less than 1% of cases, caused the elderly patient to vomit whenever he ate, causing heaviness and pain in his chest. The problem became so severe that he stopped eating and drinking out of fear of pain and vomiting and lost 5 kg of weight in 11 days.
Gradually, he also started having trouble breathing. Doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital diagnosed him with hiatus hernia and performed a complex laparoscopic surgery.
Dr. Tarun Mittal of the Department of Laparoscopic and Laser Surgery conducted a detailed investigation including endoscopy, which revealed that the patient had a large hiatus hernia.
Part of his stomach had been pushed up into his chest through his diaphragm, compressing his lungs and causing severe symptoms.
A hiatal hernia occurs when the upper part of the stomach protrudes through the diaphragm into the chest cavity. This condition occurs when the stomach protrudes through the diaphragm, which is the large muscle that separates the abdomen from the chest.
Although some types of hiatus hernia do not require treatment, surgery was required given the elderly patient’s advanced age and the complexity of the case.
Dr Mittal and his team, comprising senior anaesthetist Dr Ashish Dey and surgeons Dr Anmol Ahuja, Dr Tanushree and Dr Karthik, performed a carefully planned laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery.
He suffered from severe adhesions around the hernia, which required careful adhesiolysis to release the herniated stomach.
The stomach was then repositioned into the abdominal cavity, and the diaphragm defect was closed and reinforced with a composite mesh.
A surgical procedure called fundoplication is also used to treat stomach acid reflux to ensure the best results.
The patient not only survived the surgery but also recovered quickly. He was soon discharged from the hospital and started walking a day after the surgery.