Free procedure at AIIMS
2 min readPatna: AIIMS-Patna doctors performed their first medical thoracoscopy procedure on Saturday, a week after the hospital received the equipment required for the test.
The procedure was performed on Madhepura resident Radha Devi, 55, suffering from pleural effusion or build-up of fluid in the pleural space, an area between the layers of tissue that line the lungs and chest cavity.
In this procedure, doctors perform an internal inspection of pleural cavity by inserting of a thoracoscope, a narrow tube with a light and a microchip camera attached, through a small incision in the chest wall. This procedure is also called pleuroscopy.
AIIMS-Patna will perform this procedure on patients for free for the first three months.
“In 90 per cent cases of fluid build-up in lungs, the patient is considered to be suffering from tuberculosis. But 10 per cent of the cases might be malignant. Usually in cases of pleural effusion, the excessive fluid is drained out either with a needle or a small tube inserted into the chest. The drained out fluid sample is later tested to find whether the patient has tuberculosis or cancer,” said Dr Deependra Rai, head of department, pulmonary medicine, AIIMS-Patna.
“Medical thoracoscopy allows chest physicians to check the pleural cavity and give an authentic report whether the patient is suffering from tuberculosis or cancer. We mostly use this test in unexplained cases of pleural effusion,” Dr Rai added.
Radha Devi, he said, was taking tuberculosis medicines for the past three months but still complained of excessive fluid build-up. “We found multiple cancerous cell deposits in the pleural cavity. We have sent samples to the pathology department. They would send us the report after 10 days after which the situation would be clearer,” he added.
Courtesy: The Telegraph
