03/06/2025
Today's Success story: Hepatopancreaticobiliary series
A Dream Recovery: 75-Year-Old Defies the Odds After Complex Whipple Surgery in The Mission Hospital, Durgapur
In a remarkable demonstration of medical excellence and patient resilience, a 75-year-old man from Durgapur, with a long-standing history of hypertension and diabetes, has made a stunning recovery after undergoing one of the most complex surgeries in modern medicine — the pancreaticoduodenectomy, commonly known as the Whipple procedure.
The patient presented with a month-long history of troubling symptoms, including obstructive jaundice, persistent fever, and severe itching that significantly impaired his quality of life. On evaluation, he was diagnosed with an ampullary mass complicated by cholangitis, a serious infection of the bile ducts. Recognizing the urgency, the medical team initiated treatment with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and placed a biliary stent to relieve the obstruction and allow the infection to resolve.
Rather than rushing into surgery, the care team took a proactive and meticulous approach to optimize the patient’s overall health. He was placed on a high-protein diet and encouraged to engage in regular physical activity, including walking and respiratory exercises to improve lung capacity. Over the next few weeks, the patient gained 4–5 kilograms and showed marked improvement in his performance status, making him a suitable candidate for major surgery.
The surgical team then proceeded with the Whipple procedure, an intricate 8-hour-long operation requiring high precision and coordination. In a display of surgical expertise, the operation proceeded without any intraoperative complications — not even a single unit of blood was required. The patient was shifted postoperatively to the surgical ICU, where his recovery continued without setbacks.
Astonishingly, by the fourth postoperative day, the patient had tolerated an oral diet, and by the sixth day, he was discharged from the hospital in stable condition. Such an early discharge, free from major complications, is a rare achievement in surgeries of this magnitude and complexity.
This case serves as a testament to the importance of proper preoperative preparation, strict adherence to surgical protocols, and focused postoperative care. It also highlights the growing capabilities of medical institutions in Durgapur, proving that world-class, high-risk surgeries can be successfully performed locally without the need to travel to bigger metropolitan cities.
