GMC Anantnag achieves milestone with first successful Whipple procedure

Srinagar, June 29: In a first of its kind for Government Medical College (GMC) Anantnag, a team of doctors have successfully performed the Whipple procedure on an elderly patient.

According to the doctors, the Whipple procedure is a critical operation used to treat pancreatic cancer and other related diseases.

“The procedure involves the removal of the head of the pancreas, the duodenum, part of the bile duct, gallbladder, and part of the stomach," said Principal GMC Anantnag, Prof Rukhsana Najeeb.

Notably, the "complex and life-saving surgery" has been conducted by a team of surgeons including Dr Khalid Basheer, Dr Mujtaba, Dr Manmohan, and Dr Manzoor Parrey under the guidance of the Head of the Department of Surgery, Dr Nazir Ahmad Wani.

"The surgery was done a few days ago and the patient is doing well postoperatively. She will be discharged most of tomorrow most probably," Najeed said.

Principal GMC said that the intricate surgery demands high levels of skill, precision, and teamwork.

"Our surgical and anaesthesia teams demonstrated the skill and teamwork while performing this complex procedure successfully," she said.

As per the details shared by the administration of GMC Anantnag, the anaesthesia team, consisting of Dr Anjum Shamim, Dr Zafar Malik, Dr Shayesta, Dr Khalida, Dr Showkat, and Dr Andleeb have played a vital role in ensuring the patient’s safety and comfort throughout the procedure.

The team was guided by Prof Rukhsana Najeeb, who is herself the Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care.

"The expertise in managing the anaesthetic aspects of this complex surgery was instrumental in its successful completion," Principal GMC said.

She said that given the patient’s advanced age and multiple comorbidities, including hypertension, the anaesthesia team employed all advanced modalities for optimal care.

“This included the use of an epidural catheter for intraoperative and postoperative pain management, central arterial and central venous pressure monitoring, all under general anaesthesia," Prof Rukhsana said.

The surgery, which spanned over 6-7 hours was executed with the highest levels of meticulous skill by the doctors, technicians, and support staff, she said.

Notably, Prof Rukhsana has more than 25 years of experience in Anaesthesiology and Critical Care at Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar and she provided "invaluable support and guidance throughout the procedure."

The Principal GMC Anantnag said the successful Whipple procedure performed on an elderly patient was a landmark achievement for the medical college and a significant step forward for GMC Anantnag and the healthcare services in the region.

"It demonstrates our ability to undertake complex medical procedures and reinforces our commitment to advancing medical education and patient care,” Prof Rukhsana said.

Administrative Secretary of Health and Medical Education (H&ME) Department, Syed Abid Rasheed Shah while congratulating the entire team of GMC Anantnag said the Whipple procedure, also known as pancreaticoduodenectomy, is a complex surgical operation and very intricate while requires a highly skilled surgical team.

"I congratulate the entire team of GMC Anantnag for this wonderful milestone in its journey. The new medical colleges of J&K are paving the way for a remarkable improvement in the peripheral healthcare system of J&K and I believe the healthcare professionals of these colleges are working very hard to make these colleges the focal points in the periphery for excellent patient care," he said.

Former Director and Dean of Medical Sciences of SKIMS, Dr Omar Javed Shah termed the successful procedure a welcome step and said the efforts and dedication of the doctors should be appreciated by all.

"The doctors have done extraordinary work this time and with this successful procedure we can say that our satellite centres are developing now and setting an example throughout the country by performing such complex procedures," he said.

Dr Shah is a renowned International expert in the field of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic surgery.

Prof Shah has helped to set up and to develop new Surgical Gastroenterology techniques such as Omar’s technique of performing Splenorenal shunt, Superior Approach for performing Pancreaticoduodenetomy (Whipple’s operation) and the Hepatico-cholecystoduodenostomy (HCD) for the palliative biliary drainage.

He said that besides the facilities provided by the government, trained manpower acts as a driving force in performing such surgeries.

"These doctors have been trained for these types of surgeries. They are surgical gastroenterologists by training. Today they have proved that they can perform better," he said.