Andhra doctors perform brain surgery as patient watches Jr. NTR’s film

New Delhi, Sep 18: In a medical marvel, doctors at a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada performed a complex brain surgery -- awake craniotomy -- while the patient watches a film by Jr. NTR.

Awake Craniotomy is a method where the patient remains conscious during the procedure.

The 55-year-old patient A. Ananthalakshmi underwent surgery for a brain tumour at Kakinada’s Government General Hospital (GGH). She had been suffering from symptoms like numbness in her limbs and persistent headaches and was later diagnosed with a 3.3 x 2.7 cm tumour on the left side of her brain.

Due to high treatment costs at private hospitals, she chose the government hospital for the operation.

To keep Anantalakshmi calm and focused during the surgery, the doctors screened scenes from Jr NTR’s Adhurs, her favourite film.

The doctors successfully removed the tumour in a procedure, which lasted a two-and-a-half-hour operation. The doctors anticipate that the patient will be discharged within five days.

Awake craniotomy, also called awake brain surgery, was initially used for the surgical treatment of epilepsy and is now most commonly performed for the resection of tumours.

When the patient remains awake, it allows the neurosurgeon to maximise tumour resection while preserving neurological function.

A week ago, a similar surgery was performed by doctors at Kalyan Singh Cancer Institute in Uttar Pradesh to remove a tumour.

Throughout the innovative surgery, the 56-year-old patient remained fully awake and engaged with his mobile phone. This helped reduce the risk of nerve damage.

Earlier this year in January, a five-year-old girl underwent awake surgery at AIIMS Delhi to remove a deadly tumour from her brain.

During the complex surgery, the girl spoke with the doctors and also recognised a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.