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| Saturday, 26 February 2005 |
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Amazing life saving surgery brings glimmer of hope for a brighter future by Ranga Chandrarathne The operation theatre in the Balapitiya Base hospital was unusually busy as the assisting staff scurried along the long corridors that led to the theatre. A patient wrapped in a white sheet was seen being taken into the theatre by a stretcher. The assisting staff armed with kidney trays with numerous surgical appliances had peopled the rather ill equipped theatre, which was well-covered by green blinds.
The air of uncertainty that pervaded the atmosphere gripped everyone in the theatre except the consultant Obstetrician and gynaecologist and everyone seemed to be aware of the gravity of the surgical operation that was to be performed in the hospital for the first time as well as in Sri Lanka. The operation was to be performed on A. K. Sumithra Jayalath (32) from Karandeniya who had conceived a baby girl while developing a Foetal Ovarian Cyst, like a water-filled lump, in the baby's peritoneal cavity. The operation was to aspirate the cyst, under ultra sound guidance which had arisen from the female baby's Ovaries. The Consultant Gynaecologist who performed the operation said that baby or life would be in grave danger if the operation was not performed. The Cyst was not only reducing the supply of blood to the lower area of the baby's body but also the function of her kidney was beginning to cease due to the pressure exerted by the Cyst.
"It was for the first time in our academic and professional career that we encountered such a rare phenomenon where a Cyst is found in the Ovaries of a seven-month-old baby in the womb by a scan" said the relieved senior Medical Officers who assisted the operation, Dr. Jayantha and Dr. Sunanda de Mel. Father of the child, H. Sujith de Silva of Karandeniya said that they have heard of an efficient doctor had come to the Balapitiya Base Hospital and he took his wife to the hospital to consult the doctor to do a scan. The doctor scanned and told them that he had diagnosed a cyst in the baby.
"I was astounded as it is our first baby. Thereafter, on the advice of the Dr. Dodampahala, we consulted Dr.Nalin Rodrigo of Asiri Hospital and another scan was done and he also told us that he confirmed a cyst in the baby's ovaries. We are not rich and the doctor Dodampahala had helped us financially for we could not afford any of those sophisticated investigations", said he. The couple had gone to the Balapitiya Hospital to consult Dr. Hemantha Dodampahala when the mother was six months of pregnancy for routine antenatal care. The ultra sound scan revealed a large cyst in the foetal body likely to be arisen from the ovary as sex determination showed that the baby is female. The patient was referred to Dr. Nalinda Rodrigo at the Asiri Surgical Hospital for a second opinion who confirmed the findings of Dr. Dodampahala. He further stated that cyst can grow up impeding urinary drainage and blood floor to vital organs. After a Doppler Scan it was revealed that there is a further expansion of the ovarian cyst impeding the blood supply to vital organs, the parents has to make a decision of losing their unborn child or to leave Dr. Dodampahala to carry on with his skills. Dr. Dodampahala made no hesitation in carrying out aspiration under Ultra Sound guidance which was done for the first time in Sri Lanka using a special needle. Refilling of the cyst was a very good possibility but it had not happened. In this case, the baby's growth and blood supply to the vital organ were immediately restored. After aspiration there were glimmers of hope of new life. The mother was given steroid injections to improve the lung maturity of the baby to counteract the problems of pre-maturity in case of preterm delivery. After that the baby was seen improving and the biophysical parameters were found to be normal. It is a dedicated work of a medical consultant Dr. Hemantha Dodampahala who has been known to the people of this country for the past years through mass media. Being one of the highly qualified consultants of the country in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, he is contended to serve people from rural areas. Dr. Hemantha has recently been appointed as a lecturer University of Colombo. More than three hundred and fifty deliveries are being carried out in the hospital per month but the situation has changed after the tsunami with mothers flocking to the hospital making the figures around four hundred and fifty. This is due to the Mahamodara Hospital being affected by the Tsunami waves. Patients appreciate the intervention of the consultant, Hemantha Dodampahala to bring down the essential drugs and surgical items; Spinal needles (used for anaesthesia), Epherdrin Sulphate injections (used to counteract the effect of anaesthesia) for Cesarean surgery and other necessary drugs and Hormones for Gyanaecology patients, which were not available even at the State Medical Stores at that particular time, from De Zoysa Maternity Hospital. This prevented the patients being moved to Teaching Hospital Mahamodara in Galle at a time when the hospital has only one ambulance. The inestimable service of four other consultants namely Anaesthetist Champika de Alwis, Paediatrician Damayanthi Hapugoda, Surgeon Dhammika Wickramasekara, Physician Chulani Adhikari, District Medical Officer, Athula Piyarathna,all the medical officers, and the members of the minor staff made it possible to carry out such a large number of major surgeries that includes Cancer Surgeries; The commendable service rendered and the immense effort by them contributed to keep up the good image of the hospital. |
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