New surgery technique to treat cancer patients at AIIMS up to 93 p.c. successful

New Delhi: Surgeons at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here have developed an indigenous technique to treat patients suffering from anorectal cancer and cancer in their abdominal lining and/or groin.

Compared to this new technique, the old surgery technique has a success rate of only 20 per cent and causes the additional trouble of flap necrosis for the patient.

Dr MD Ray, associate professor at the Oncology department, AIIMS, has pioneered this new technique of incision on cancerous cells, along with his team of doctors.

"We have developed a new method, called 'two parallel curvilinear incision' technique, in which incision is made on the cancerous cells such that flap necrosis (damaging skin and muscle over the operated area) does not occur. This process also substantially reduces morbidity," Dr Ray said.

"We have done almost 105 successful surgeries on around 75 patients. It is also called 'river flow incision technique', and the chances of necrosis are avoided in the future as well, thereby facilitating early recovery of patients and decreasing period of hospitalisation. It has also decreased the cost for the treatment for cancer patients," he added.

Thanks to the new incision technique, he added, nearly 93 per cent of patients have not incurred narcosis. Moreover, patients have been discharged withing just three-four days, after post operation care.

Speaking about the cons of the old technique, Dr Ray said, "Complication rate of the old procedure is as high as 65 - 82 per cent, specially devastating as it could cause complication of flap necrosis. The previous technique also resulted in necrosis in nearly 80 per cent of patients."

"All of them would be required to stay in the hospital for a long time and, in most cases, would need another mandatory surgery to heal the same disease," he further said.

"With the previous procedure, if a patient needed a further surgery on the same portion, surgeons needed to graft skin from another part of the body, which also causes problems for some patients," Dr Ray added.

Tumours below the navel such as anorectal cancers, gynaecological cancers, as well as melanoma can be effectively treated with the new technique and increase survival chances for patients.

The technique was initially accepted by high impact Journal World Journal of Methodology in 2016, with even the World Journal of Surgery now applauding the river flow incision technique.