Delhi hospital performs complex surgery to save woman's only functioning kidney

New Delhi, Jul 17 (PTI) Doctors at a Delhi hospital have performed a complex minimally invasive surgery to treat a 59-year-old woman suffering from a blockage in her only functioning kidney along with multiple kidney stones, restoring normal kidney function, according to a statement. The surgery was carried out at RG Hospitals in west Delhi where the woman was admitted with persistent pain in her right side, the hospital said in a statement. "Investigations revealed a Pelvi-Ureteric Junction (PUJ) obstruction, a condition in which the flow of urine from the kidney to the ureter is blocked, along with three to four kidney stones measuring around 11 mm each. The blockage had caused swelling of her right kidney," they added. Doctors also found that her left kidney had become small, contracted and was almost non-functional, making the right kidney her only working kidney. The patient also had hypothyroidism. The hospital said a team led by senior consultant urologist Dr Kapil Jain performed a laparoscopic surgery lasting about two hours and 20 minutes to repair the obstruction, remove the kidney stones and place a temporary stent to restore the flow of urine while preserving kidney function. The patient recovered without complications, was mobilised early after the surgery and was discharged in a stable condition three days later, it said. "Managing a Pelvi-Ureteric Junction obstruction becomes significantly more challenging when it affects the patient's only functioning kidney, as every effort must be made to preserve its function. In this case, the additional presence of multiple kidney stones made the surgery even more complex," Jain said. He said the minimally invasive approach enabled doctors to reconstruct the blocked junction and remove the stones simultaneously while minimising surgical trauma. Jain advised people not to ignore symptoms such as persistent flank pain, recurrent urinary tract infections or kidney stones, particularly those with reduced kidney function or only one functioning kidney, saying early diagnosis and timely treatment can help prevent irreversible kidney damage. PTI SGV MDO MDO