In a first for Armed Forces, Chandimandir Command Hospital harvests pancreas for organ transplant

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, June 5

In a first for any Armed Forces medical institution, specialists at Command Hospital in Chandimandir performed a successful pancreas and kidney harvest from a brain-dead patient on June 5. The organs were harvested from the father of a serving soldier from the 14th Punjab Regiment, who consented for the cause.

While kidney harvest has been undertaken in the past, this is for the first time in the history of the Armed Forces that pancreas has been harvested for organ transplantation.

The organ retrieval surgery involved an 8- to 9-hour long marathon procedure. According to doctors, pancreas retrieval is among the most difficult surgeries.

The organs were successfully transplanted in a medical student admitted to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI) in Chandigarh, who was suffering from diabetes and fighting with kidney failure, giving him a new lease of life.

It also ushers a ray of hope to the millions in the country requiring pancreas transplantation. Doctors said that pancreas transplantation is very rare and at present PGI is perhaps the only centre in the country that has made a few attempts so far.

In the past, Western Command Hospital has performed several organ harvesting and transplant operations, providing a new lease of life to critically ill persons by harvesting kidneys, liver and heart from brain-dead patients.

Organ donation was started in the Armed Forces in the late 2000s and introduced at Western Command Hospital in 2014. The process is coordinated by the Armed Forces Organ Retrieval and Transplantation Authority in New Delhi.

Several other military hospitals across the country have also performed similar life-saving organ transplant operations.