Ludhiana, February 28
Had it not been for the successful endoscopic surgery of the spine and generosity of hospital staff, Leela Singh (42), a labourer working in Malerkotla town in Sangrur district, would have perished or remained incapacitated for the rest of his life.

The virtually stitchless and highly complicated surgery to repair the fractured C-2 (cervical vertebra) was performed by Dr Bikram Brar, a consultant neuro-spinal surgeon at a local private hospital here.

Dr Brar is a trained surgeon from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, and Stuttgart (Germany).

Claiming the procedure a rare one, Dr Brar said no case of endoscopic spine surgery had been reported so far in the medical history the country.

Giving details, Dr Brar said Leela Singh, the sole breadwinner of the family, had fallen down in a well on February 19 and sustained fracture of the spine.

The relatives of the victim sought opinion from various doctors in the state but they were given very poor prognosis if the surgery was performed.

With little hope of recovery, Leela Singh was brought to the hospital on February 22 and after thorough assessment operated upon the next day using an endoscope.

The marathon stitchless surgical procedure took four hours and a screw was put in C-2 vertebra.

“There was no loss of blood and the post-operative recovery was remarkable. The patient started taking food and moving limbs in the evening and was discharged after four days of stay at the hospital.”

According to Dr Brar, the surgery (of the spine) was very complicated and more often than not life-threatening.

Victims of such spinal fractures either died before reaching the hospital or those who did make it died at the operating table.

“However, with the availability of state-of-the-art equipment and skilled professionals, such difficult spinal surgeries will become day-care surgeries and that too with no stitches on the body.

Hospital chairman Dr Baldeep said the patient was very poor and could not afford the surgery, which in normal course would have cost him over Rs 50,000. “We waived off all hospital and operation charges and the patient had to pay only for the medicines. Even the cost of some disposables, used in endoscopic surgery, was borne by the operating surgeon.”