Manmohan Singh’s coronary bypass surgery has successfully ended at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here. Dr Singh is reported to be stable and has been shifted to the ICU. His post-surgery care has also begun. The operation lasted for nearly eight hours and doctors will issue a bulletin on PM’s health at 7.00 pm. Union Health Minister A Ramadoss is also expected to address the media at 5.00 pm.
The coronary artery bypass surgery included replacement of three older grafts performed on the Prime Minister in 1990 in the UK. Dr Sudhir Vaishnav, who is a cardio-vascular thoracic surgeon with the Asian Heart Institute (ASI), said the grafts were successfully performed.
According to Dr Vaishnav, the surgery began at 7:15 am. An 11-member team from the ASI led by Dr Ramakant Panda had flown down from Mumbai for the operation on the 76-year-old leader at the AIIMS here, he added.
The team comprised three more doctors and the rest were support staff.
While no foreign doctor was involved in the surgery, Dr Vaishnav said that Dr Shamin K Sharma from Mount Sinai medical centre in New York had come down for angiography performed on January 22 and has since left.
Other doctors attending on the Prime Minister earlier said that he was a case of ‘unstable angina’. Dr Singh, who has a history of heart ailments which have included a bypass surgery 18 years ago and an angioplasty six years ago, was admitted to AIIMS yesterday after he felt uneasy at his 7 Race Course Road residence.
During the surgery, doctors from AHI and AIIMS developed an alternate route for the supply of blood by sidelining the blocked part using graft of arteries and vessels derived from other parts of body.
When asked why the operation began nearly two hours after the Prime Minister was wheeled in, Dr Vaishnav said, “We give anesthesia immediately after wheeling in the patient (at 5.30 am) and then wait for about one hour.”
“It is only after that, we start the preparations for the operations which basically involves shaving the patient, scrubbing and finally drawing lines,” he said.
Tests over two days revealed that the 76-year-old, who became PM in May 2004 heading a Congress-led government, had multiple arterial blockages.
Following his angiography on Wednesday, doctors made it clear that the PM did not face any medical emergency. He himself said he felt no discomfort while the tests were carried out.
The coronary artery bypass surgery is performed when arteries get blocked and procedures like angioplasty or medicines fail to clear the blockage.
The surgery was undertaken at operation theatre number five at AIIMS.
Even at this age, Dr Singh keeps himself fit doing yoga, is conscious of his diet and packs a punishing 18-hour work schedule despite having undergone a bypass surgery 18 years ago.
“The PM could have carried on for a few more days but his family felt the surgery should happen at the earliest,” a senior official said.
Experts said the PM would need to rest for at least two to four weeks after today’s surgery.
With Manmohan Singh hospitalised, the government decided that Defence Minister AK Antony will stand in for the PM at the Republic Day function.
Antony will lead the nation in paying homage to the martyrs by laying a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti, the memorial to the Unknown Soldier, on Monday morning, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said. The government had earlier said that the PM’s ceremonial role on Republic Day Monday will be discharged by Vice President Hamid Ansari.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee was yesterday given the additional charge of the Finance Ministry, which was with Dr Singh.
Mukherjee, the senior-most member of the Cabinet, would chair Cabinet meetings in Manmohan Singh’s place. He is the leader of the house in the Lok Sabha. In the past, he has held fort when the PM has gone abroad.
Source : nhatky.in