Doctors remove eight kg tumour from 31-year-old man's face in Karnataka

After 17 years, a 31-year-old man Manbodh Bagh, was freed of an eight-kilogram tumor on his face which was hindering happiness in his life. It took 16 different surgical procedures over a period of six months to make it possible.

Bengaluru:A 31-year-old man, Manbodh Bagh felt a new sense of life after a tumor weighing over eight kilograms was removed through surgery after 17 years. Bagh from Titilagarh, Odisha had been suffering from a rare condition plexiform neurofibroma, a benign tumour of peripheral nerves since the age of 14.

Pushing him into an abyss of despair, he was denied surgical treatment several times by doctors who said that his chance of survival was bleak. Even though the surgery was attempted in a hospital in Odisha, it was of no avail as there was uncontrolled bleeding.

A media outlet in Bengaluru came to his rescue as they fetched money for his surgery through crowdfunding. Still relying on hope, Bagh visited a multi-speciality hospital and eventually got his tumor remove after undergoing herculean 16 different surgical procedures over a period of six months. Multiple departments at the hospital including neurosurgery, plastic surgery, oncology, ENT, neuro-anaesthesia and ophthalmology jointly worked towards the surgery.

Manbodh said "In the hope of getting the tumour removed, I had consulted various doctors and visited multiple hospitals but all in vain. I was hesitant and shy to go outdoors due to the tumor. My life had become miserable. The doctors here assured me of the best treatment and removal of this tumor. Newslions Media Network Pvt Ltd & Milaap crowdfunding platform also came forward to support me. I am elated and no words are enough to express my joy. I am thankful to all the doctors at the hospital who have given me a second chance to live again."

The surgery came up with utmost risk as the huge tumor engulfed the right eye as well as the major portion of the face. “Manbodh came to us with a huge tumor extending from his head till the neck. After undergoing unsuccessful debulking surgeries, his tumor was deemed inoperable. His CT scan also showed his facial bones were destroyed by the tumor. Dealing with such a highly complex case often requires different modalities of treatment and a multi-disciplinary approach. So, the team carefully evaluated the case and provided a seamless approach to the treatment. The team finally was able to remove the tumor and restore the facial bone,” said Dr Ravi Gopal Varma, Lead Consultant – Neurosurgery and Chief of Neurosciences.

Dr. Madhusudan G, Lead and Senior Consultant - Plastic Surgery at the hospital said, “Once the tumor was removed, we took Manbodh up for reconstruction surgery after 48 hours. Most of his facial skin had to be removed as the tumor was densely adherent, resulting in a large composite skin and soft tissue defect over the entire right half of the face. Reconstruction of such large defects which need microsurgical tissue transfer was challenging due to preoperative embolization."

"The entire reconstruction surgery was done in two stages by using three flaps skin and muscles of both his thighs as well as the right forearm. In the first stage, right thigh skin and muscles were transferred by microsurgical means and in the second stage, a rare complex reconstruction method was used by connecting left thigh skin- muscle flap to his right forearm skin and transfer the combination of two flaps to the face by attaching hand to the forehead for three weeks,” he said.

Dr Raghavendra Pai K, Lead Consultant - Neuroanaesthesia said “Manbodh was weighing 58 kg with the tumour. On December 1 2020, the day of the first resection, which lasted for 19 hours where he suffered torrential blood loss and was transfused nearly 40 litres of fluids, blood and blood components. We had reserved 12 units of blood for this surgery, which is huge by regular standards and were able to get additional 8 units of blood in a short span of time."

"Since his tumor was affecting his mouth opening it was a challenge to get his breathing tube into his trachea for his first surgery. After 3 days of stabilization in the ICU, he underwent reconstruction surgery which lasted for an additional 23 hours. We also took care of him in our Neuro ICU. We were able to mobilize Manbodh on the 15th day in the ICU and shifted him to the wards on Day 18. He then weighed about 44kg. The successful management of complex surgeries like these are possible when we have dedicated and capable teams under the same roof,” said Raghavendra.

After fast recovery, Manbodh was discharged from the hospital with no complications and he stepped out of the hospital with renewed vigour and a wide grin on his face.