New Delhi: A specialised treatment for asthma is widely available at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, to provide relief to patients suffering frequent "terrifying attacks of asthma".
Doctors at the premier healthcare institute said that patients with asthma, which cannot be controlled with inhaler medication or steroids, will get almost permanent respite from asthma through the latest 'Bronchial Thermoplasty' procedure.
AIIMS is the only public hospital in the country to offer this treatment.
The move will significantly improve the quality of life for patients and will be most suitable to those regularly admitted to hospital with poorly controlled asthma, said an expert.
Bronchial Thermoplasty (BT) — a procedure that reduces asthma attacks by minimising the airway smooth muscle — has been tried and tested successfully in the United States as well as countries in Europe.
The technique has been adopted by a few private hospitals in India this year, but not many patients can afford the treatment there.
The air quality in the capital turned 'severe' on Tuesday, with the overall air quality index reaching 401 — the worst this season.
Experts say that of the total asthmatic patients in Delhi, five-10 per cent are diagnosed with severe asthma.
"The technique is not performed immediately after an acute attack. The patient is tested for a month before performing the procedure," said Dr Anant Mohan, head of Department of Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, AIIMS
"Bronchoscopy can bring down the medication and help the patient improve their lifestyle. Studies have shown that after the procedure, people may have improvements that can last for five years and longer," he added.
The procedure is performed in three sessions that takes around nine weeks.
Each session is to be performed after a gap of three weeks. During the procedure, a catheter (a thin instrument that gives heat energy) is introduced to the patient's airway through a bronchoscope. The catheter is pushed to the end of the airway to reduce expanded smooth muscles.
The catheter is then withdrawn after every 10 seconds from the area so that it slowly provides heat to the entire airway.