SSKM docs remove cancer cells from breast making minor incision

KOLKATA: Taking up the challenge of conducting a minimally invasive surgery, doctors of SSKM Hospital successfully removed a portion of a breast of a 45-year-old woman after it developed cancerous cells by undertaking endoscopic breast surgery.

The surgery involved primary reconstruction and didn't require major incision.

The doctors at the surgery department of SSKM decided to perform endoscopy assisted breast surgery as the patient suggested an alternative option to remove the breast cancer cells without going for a full fledged operation.

They carried out reconstruction surgery by plucking muscle from her shoulder. As it was an endoscopy-guided breast surgery, no major cut marks are left behind on the patient's body.

The patient, a resident from Howrah's Salkia, was brought to the hospital in 2021 for the first time and after the clinical tests the doctors at the surgery department found that cancer cells spread in her breast.

Doctors, who examined the patient, opined that it would have been better had the surgery been conducted earlier. The patient urged the doctors if there was any other alternative to a full-fledged surgery.

The doctors then proposed that endoscopic breast surgery, which can be carried out through smaller incisions. As the family members of the patient gave a go-ahead to the doctors, they performed the surgery and later reconstructed the portion of the breast.

"Two small holes were created and the cancer cells in the breast were removed through laparoscopy. After the cancer cells were removed, we plucked muscles from the patient's shoulder and reconstructed the removed portion of the breast. The patient has now been doing fine," a senior official from the hospital said.

Endoscopic breast surgery is a minimally-invasive surgical procedure performed using an endoscope, a thin fiber-optic instrument with camera and lens attached to it.

Instead of a large incision, endoscopic breast surgery is performed through smaller incisions, resulting in less pain, shorter hospital stay, less postoperative complications and faster recovery.

Breast augmentation was concurrently conducted at the same time after endoscopic breast surgery was performed, allowing the patient's confidence to be fully restored.