Jaipur doctors remove tumour while patient talks to hubby on cell

JAIPUR: Doctors removed tumour from brain of a 35-year-old woman who remained awake and kept talking to her husband till they completed the three-hour-long surgery.
Shanti Devi was brought from Tonk to Jaipur for treatment as she complained of frequent episodes of dizziness and difficulty in speech. Doctors performed test and found that she had a tumour in her brain.
The doctors discovered that the tumour was situated at a place which controls speech and movement of right side of the body. The benefit of the awake surgery asking patient to talk continuously is that if during surgery the doctors realizes that the speech part of the brain is getting affected, they immediately can take corrective measures.
That part of surgery which involved removal of tumour was completed in 45mins. During that period, the woman kept talking to her husband and responded to doctors whenever they asked her, how she was feeling. It was a difficult decision for her but she took the brave decision when they explained to her how they are going to perform the surgery keeping her awake.
“We conducted her counselling for two days and explained each and every aspect of the surgery. It was a difficult decision but she looked brave and confident when we performed the surgery,” said Dr Pankaj Gupta, a neurosurgeon, of a private hospital, where the woman underwent the operation.
Dr Gupta said that they perform surgeries for removal of tumours by giving general anaesthesia. This surgery is different as patient was given sedation. The patient was sedated but she was awake.