Doctor's Day Special: Salivary gland stone removal surgery is performed only in GMERS Hospital Gotri

On July 1, its the birthday of Dr. Bidhanchandra Roy, who was an ideal doctor as well as the Chief Minister of West Bengal. In his memory this day is celebrated as Doctors' Day and it would be appropriate to talk about a new initiative of a skilled doctor in a government hospital.

The long-stalled work of other types of surgery in the ear, nose and throat department of GMERS Hospital, Gotri, which was stopped by the burden of corona crisis and subsequent mucormycosis distress, was resumed on Wednesday with a special type of surgery.

Dr. Hiren Soni of this department and his colleagues performed a special operation to remove 1 cm of stones from the salivary glands of a 24 year old woman with the help of a device called Silendoscope.

This surgery is special because the device is available only in this government hospital in Vadodara out of the government and most of the private hospitals in the state and its surgery is not known to take place anywhere else.

Dr. Soni said that since the salivary gland stones are removed with the help of a silandoscope or the narrowed gland is widened and stents are placed only in Gotri Hospital, doctors from cities like Jamnagar, Rajkot, Surat, Ahmedabad and Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan send patients here with such problems. Even the youngest 3 year old child has undergone successful surgery here in the past. The child was brought here from Jamnagar for treatment. When young children get frequent mumps, then there is the possibility of a problem in the salivary glands which can be permanently cured by this surgery.

So far we have heard of kidney stones and surgery on organs like kidney or gall bladder. But this unique surgery to remove stones from the salivary gland takes place in the government hospital in Vadodara is a new thing.

Dr. Hiren Soni informed that so far about 60 surgeries have been performed here to remove the stones of the salivary gland or widen the narrow gland with the help of the above machine. He said that this machine was allotted to Gotri Hospital in 2015/16. We took the initiative of the surgery. In the meantime, due to his relocation and then due to the crisis of the corona, the operation of this surgery was stopped. Now he is happy to start it anew.

Radiotherapy for cancer, commonly referred to as shaking, reduces the activity of the salivary glands in many patients. This makes it very difficult for such patients to eat or drink. By administering the drug, the patient's problems are alleviated by reactivating this gland for the required production of saliva.

Earlier this operation was done by removing the salivary gland. Now with the help of the above machine it is possible to remove the obstruction directly without removing it. Thus, this is a facility similar to a medical blessing.

This surgery involves the use of binoculars of 1 mm thick for adults and 0.6 mm thick for children. Diagnosis and treatment can be done simultaneously on the monitor. No checks or stitches are required. And its wings have been shown solely to give a sense of proportion.

Government hospitals are equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment by the state government's health system. Doctors like Dr. Soni provide treatment in government hospitals which is not available in corporate hospitals with the help of such machines which is a matter of pride for all. Greetings to all such doctors on the occasion of Doctors Day which is celebrated on 1st July.

The salivary glands are two under the jaw on both sides and the other one is small makes it 5 in total. Thus, even though it is a very small organ, in one case, 4 by 4 by 5 cm size stones were removed which was bigger than all. On stone was removed by splitting into 30 pieces.

Dr. Hiren Soni said that other types of surgeries due to covid and mucormycosis were suspended in the ear, nose and throat department of Gotri Hospital. At present, the number of new patients of mucormycosis has decreased, all the admitted patients have been operated and necessary revision surgeries have been done.

Correspondingly he has started another type of surgery with salivary gland and has removed a stone of 1 cm from the salivary gland of a woman who has been suffering for about 1 year.

He said that the process of setting up a board of 50 to 60 doctors performing this type of surgery in the country has started as a founding member which will be a platform for sharing our experiences and new initiatives.