Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

He has helped many a patient breathe easy

The doctor has trained many surgeons and pulmonologists and conducted workshops in bronchoscopy

He entered the Madras Medical College as a student and retired last month as head of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery of the Government General Hospital. Rajan Santosham, who specialised in thoracic surgery, fed his interest in this field of surgery despite his exacting schedule at the G.H. He tells R. Sujatha how he worked in a niche area in the field of medicine.

Rajan Santosham is a member in 17 professional bodies the world over. Among his achievements are the lifetime achievement award from the Indian Association of Bronchology and admission as fellow to the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons and to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He has trained many surgeons and pulmonologists and conducted workshops in bronchoscopy.

As a doctor in the GH, he did cardiac surgeries too, but "I have been keenly interested in tracheal surgery," he says. He helped 286 men and women breathe better. On an average, he preformed one major thoracic surgery a day. Though he has done tracheal surgeries at the GH many were performed at Santosham Chest Hospital in Egmore. His father, Mathuram Santosham, set up a lung clinic in 1937 to offer treatment for tuberculosis. But after treatment for TB improved, the clinic offered specialised treatment.

Though cardiac surgery was introduced in the 1950s, thoracic surgery was offered only in the 1960s to treat a condition resulting from damage to trachea during ventilation. "In those days, red rubber endo-tracheal tubes were used." Often they would also be reused. The rubber tubes would destroy the delicate tracheal mucous membrane. Patients would not be able to inhale and would die.Dr. Santosham surgically corrects tracheal inflammation. "I was sent to the U.S. to train in cardiac surgery. But I knew what I wanted to do," he says, recalling his first trip to America. Among his memorable surgeries is the one he performed many years ago on a 16-year-old LTTE sympathiser. After being poisoned, the boy, who was thought to be dead, was put in a gunny bag and left at the Jaffna railway station. He was brought to the GH for treatment. Much of his trachea had been damaged. But the skilled surgeon helped the boy regain use of his trachea.People who have been on ventilators for a long time develop inflammation of the trachea. Even a two-week stay could cause the problem. Though with improved technology better quality tubes have replaced the `red rubber tubes,' they are still in use in rural areas. He can be contacted at: 2819 2489

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