Doctors in Pune have given a 32-year-old woman from Nairobi a new lease of life after suffering from a severely weakened condition with severe nutritional deficiencies, recurrent abdominal infection, sepsis, continuous pus drainage and a persistent leak following previous surgery. The woman had undergone 11 weight-loss and revision procedures over 15 years, when she reached the city and finally found relief.

Chances of survival 

With her condition considered extremely high-risk and her chances of survival estimated at only around 20 per cent, a team led by Dr. Shashank Shah, Bariatric and Laparoscopic Surgeon at Laparo Obeso Centre (LOC) in Pune's Sadashiv Peth, first stabilised her medically before performing a complex laparoscopic gastro-gastric re-anastomosis with endoscopic stent placement to address the leak and restore continuity of the stomach. After weeks of intensive medical care, nutritional support, physiotherapy and repeated endoscopic stent adjustments, the leak healed and she was discharged at 86 kg, able to eat normally and walk independently.