The Byculla Railway Hospital achieved a record in the Indian Railways earlier this month by correcting a spinal deformity through minimally invasive surgery with the help of a small hole made in the back. This surgery is the first of its kind to have been performed at any government-run hospital under Indian Railways.

The surgery was performed in the first week of July on Kamla Ayyappan, 56, who was born with a deformed spine. The condition was diagnosed as a lumbar spine deformity, which causes the spine to curve in the shape of an 'S' or a C'. It had caused her immense pain all her life. But she finally got a shot at getting relief from it. Ayyappan's son, who is a Central Railway employee, had brought her to the hospital for the procedure. After running a series of tests, she was diagnosed with the deformity. Following that, her doctor, senior orthopaedic surgeon Vijay Singh, decided to perform the surgery.