29-yr-old man undergoes surgery for removal of tumour in windpipe in Delhi

New Delhi: A 29-year-old man has undergone surgery at a leading private hospital here for the removal of a tumour that was lodged in his windpipe causing acute breathlessness, doctors said on Tuesday.

After being admitted to the hospital, he was immediately put on a ventilator to first stabilise his oxygen level and was recommended an immediate tumour removal surgery, they said.

In a statement, the Apollo hospital here described it as a “rare case”.

Initially, the patient complained of chest pain and progressive swelling in his neck. After suffering for over two months he consulted a local doctor who diagnosed him with tuberculosis, but his condition did not improve with TB medication.

As the next step, he underwent a bronchoscopy that revealed a large mass in his windpipe causing an 80 percent blockage. With his condition deteriorating due to acute breathlessness and fluctuating oxygen level he was admitted to a local hospital in Faridabad, it said.

The patient was then referred to Apollo hospital in Delhi where he was immediately put on a ventilator to first stabilise his oxygen level.

Dr Suresh Singh Naruka, senior consultant, ENT, and head and neck surgeon, said, “When this patient was admitted to Apollo hospital, he had developed a tumour which was causing 50 per cent blockage of the neck. The tumour required immediate attention as it had the potential of getting metastatic and spreading to other parts of the body”.

“Hence after stabilising his oxygen levels an immediate surgery was carried out in order to maintain the airway. This surgery in particular was challenging. Due to the size of the tumour, there was no space for air to pass into the lungs and patient saturation rate was dropping very fast whenever we were doing any instrumentation,” he said.

The procedure took three hours but doctors were able to successfully remove the tumour, the statement said.

“Postoperatively, the patient was kept in an ICU for further monitoring and as he was successfully weaned off from mechanical ventilation, he was discharged in November, he said.

Post-surgery, the biopsy of the windpipe mass revealed a cancer of lymphoid cells known as lymphoma. Lymphoma is extremely rare to find in windpipe as it comprises only 0.2-0.3 per cent of all windpipe tumours.

He is undergoing chemotherapy as further management and is keeping well now, he added.

The patient is still visiting the hospital for follow-ups and management of lymphoma through chemotherapy, the statement said.