A Daring Lung Surgery at CMC Ludhiana

Latest device used for the first time

Photo: A happy Mr Birbal Singh with Dr Harinder Singh Bedi

Punjab is now among the very few cities in India where the latest technology is being used to cure lung disease patients surgically without complications.  This was in the form of a new generation bronchial stapler used by Dr Harinder Singh Bedi – Head of Cardio Vascular Endovascular & Thoracic Surgery in the prestigious Christian Medical College & Hospital in Ludhiana.  Dr Bedi explained that in lung surgery for cancer and TB – the air channel (bronchus) to the diseased part of the lung is cut and then repaired. There is a major risk of the sutures giving sway as the suture area is always wet from lung secretions. This complication - called a broncho-pleural fistula - is a dreaded and sometimes fatal complication all over the world. To reduce this risk a new device called a bronchial stapler has been developed by the Ethicon Company of USA in conjunction with Cardio Thoracic surgeons. This has a double row of titanium clips which on deploying securely close the bronchus with an extremely low risk that a leak will occur.
This was used recently by Dr Bedi in Mr Birbal Singh r/o Basti Jodhewal , Ludhiana    . He suffered from a life threatening bleeding from the left upper lobe of the lung. He was referred to Dr Bedi by Dr Mary John – the Head of Medicine at CMC & H.  Mr Birbal was in a critical state and Dr Bedi realized that he would be at high risk of a fistula by conventional surgery. So the new device was used for the first time in Punjab. Dr Bedi has trained in Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery with Dr Mark X Shanahan – the former Chairman of Cardio Thoracic Surgery at St Vincents hospital in Sydney. There he had done many complicated cases. In fact Dr Bedi has been invited to give lectures on lung surgery by the Association of Cardio Thoracic Surgeons. But according to Dr Bedi – Mr Birbal presented a special challenge as he had lost blood and was very weak. The stapler was successfully used and Mr Birbal made a remarkable recovery.
The other members of the Heart – Lung Team are Dr A Joseph, Dr S Garg, Dr Paul, Dr Melchi, Dr D Benia, Dr William, Dr Savan, Dr Pearl., Mr William and Mr Jairus and Yoga Acharya Mr Nirmal Singh. Dr Bedi explained that in lung surgery major cardio-vascular repair can be required at any time – so it is important that the team be a fully trained Cardio- Vascular & Thoracic one.  Dr Bedi is a board certified surgeon qualified and authorized to perform cardiac vascular endovascular and thoracic surgery.
Dr Abraham G Thomas – Director of CMC & H – said that the CMC was committed to bringing the latest technology to the people of Punjab. He complimented Dr Bedi and his team for this pioneering surgery. Dr Thomas told that under the leadership of Dr Bedi CMC & H is regularly performing minimally invasive lung surgeries and is one of the  few centres in India doing this routinely . Shalu Arora and Rector Kathuria