PGIMER caters to approx 600 aneurysmal surgeries per year

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 22

The Department of Neuroanaesthesia at the PGI caters to approximately 600 aneurysmal surgeries - highest in the country – per year. Apart from that, the department also caters to 1,600 neurotrauma cases per year.

Giving information, Dr GD Puri, Head, Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, PGI, said the cases were rising every year.

“Every day, at least five neurotrauma patients undergo surgery at the institute,” he said.

“We get many children as well who have sustained fall-related injuries, but the good part is that outcome is at least 60 per cent better in children than adults – the younger the child, the better the outcome because children have way more regeneration power as compared to adults,” he said.

“An analysis done a few years ago confirmed that outcome in children with severe head injury is better than adults,” he said.

Notably, neurotrauma cases coming to the PGI include accident-related injuries such as road accidents, injuries sustained due to fall, violence, abuse, among others.

“Most cases we get are of fall-related injuries,” Dr Puri said.

He said neuroscience was exponentially growing and accompanied with everyday innovations and intriguing developments.

“There is a strong belief that better patient care is obtained through high volume and speciality physicians and hospitals. Neuroanaesthesia per se has contributed tremendously over the years to better patient care, in terms of patient outcome,” Dr Puri remarked.

Meanwhile, Dr Puri informed that the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, PGI, is organising the 18th annual conference of neuroanaesthesiology and critical care under the aegis of Indian Society of Neuroanaesthesia and Critical Care (ISNACC) from February 24-26, 2017. February 26 will be dedicated to international symposium on aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage.

The mega event of ISNACC 2017, which is highlighting the importance of neuroanaesthesia and neurocritical care, will be attended by around 400 delegates and luminaries of national and international repute in the field of neuroanaesthesia and neurocritical care, along with faculties from different speciality and super-speciality of the institute. Around 20 international faculty from various corners of the globe and 50 national faculty will be sharing their skilful experiences and knowledge on various topics of neuroanaesthesia and neurocritical care during the scientific proceedings of the conference.

The highlights of the plenary scientific session consist of four workshops and hands-on training sessions on neuromonitoring, ultrasonography in anaesthesia, difficult airway management and echocardiography in neuroanaesthesia, international symposium on aneursymal SAH, video presentation on neuromonitoring and techniques of recent advances, problem-based learning and discussions, panel discussions, pro-con sessions and simulation-based fluid management sessions.