The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Non-surgical procedure to lose weight

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 20, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Non-surgical procedure to lose weight

Staff Reporter

The 40-year-old suffered from "Budd-Chiari" syndrome

CHENNAI: He weighed 175 kg a month back. P. Ramesh now weighs 20 kg less after a city hospital removed the excess fluid he has been carrying in his abdomen for the past 15 years.

According to doctors at Medindia Hospitals, the 40-year-old patient from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh suffered from `Budd-Chiari' syndrome — clotting of the major vein that leaves the liver. "The syndrome, in Ramesh's case, was caused by a congenital defect. A membrane blocked his inferior vena cava. Over the years, this led to the syndrome because of which there was a lot of fluid accumulation in the abdomen," said interventional gastroenterologist T.S. Chandrasekar.

The problem, which started in 1992, increased not just Ramesh's body weight but also his girth to 186 cms over the years. Costly and time-consuming surgical procedures, says Ramesh, prevented him from going in for a cure.

`Two needed'

"I needed two people if I wanted to move from my bed," recalled Ramesh. His professional and personal life suffered, as he was bedridden for the past one year.

Doctors said they removed nearly 52 litres of excess fluid in stages, found the source of block and installed two metallic stents to keep the blocked segment open through endovascular procedures.

"It is a permanent solution and the whole procedure cost Rs. 2.5 lakh. Now Ramesh's blood circulation is back to normal. After a month or so, he will also look normal after we remove the excess skin through plastic surgery and conduct a hernia operation," added Dr. Chandrasekar.

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