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| Hundreds of stones removed from Dalai Lama's gallbladder |
| 2008-10-10 |
| NEW DELHI: Hundreds of pebble-like stones, ranging from half a centimetre to one centimetre in size, were removed from the gallbladder of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Friday. The stones had been giving the Buddhist leader sleepless nights for the past few weeks. A team of surgeons from Gangaram Hospital in New Delhi, led by Dr P K Chaubey, chairman of the hospital's department of minimal access surgery, removed the stones using the 15-minute keyhole procedure called laparoscopy. During the procedure, the team sedated the Nobel prize-winning leader and made several tiny incisions in the abdomen. The team then inserted a laparoscope and a miniature video camera which gave a close-up view of the organs and tissues. The surgeons then carefully separated the gallbladder from the liver and bile ducts. They then cut the cystic duct and removed the gallbladder through one of the small incisions. According to surgeons who spoke to TOI on condition of anonymity, the 73-year-old Dalai Lama will be discharged from the hospital by Tuesday. He can resume normal activities like travel and public talks after a week. Doctors said because the abdominal muscles are not cut during laparoscopic surgery, patients have less pain and fewer complications than after open surgery, which requires an incision of five to eight inches across the abdomen. "All the stones have been successfully removed. The Dalai Lama had been feeling acute pain in the abdomen for the past few days because of it," a surgeon from the hospital said. The Dalai Lama's aide, Chhime R Chhoekyapa, called the surgery a simple, routine procedure. Speaking to TOI, Chhoekyapa said: "The bursts of pain had been bothering the Dalai Lama since the end of August. His initial treatment took place in Mumbai where the stones were diagnosed. However, the surgery to remove them was successfully completed on Friday." According to Chhoekyapa, the Dalai Lama's future travel plans aren't being changed. He will travel across Japan on a seven-day lecture tour from the end of this month and is expected to return by mid-November to his home in Dharamsala — where he set up his government-in-exile after fleeing Tibet following a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. "The Dalai Lama didn't have travel plans till the end of October. He may return to Dharamsala before leaving for Japan, if he feels up to it. Or else, he will leave straight for Japan from Delhi. He also plans to visit Meerut and Pune after his return from Japan," Chhoekyapa told TOI. The Dalai Lama arrived in Delhi on Monday from Dharamsala. A typical gallbladder stone attack can cause steady pain in the right upper abdomen that increases rapidly and lasts from 30 minutes to several hours. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #1 ...First of all, I wish His Holiness (for such is his title)a full and speedy recovery. But second, the guy's a vegetarian. How did he manage to come up with the risk factors for gallstones? Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2008-10-10 18:51 |