Srinagar: Marengo Asia Hospitals and Dr Punit Singla, Liver Transplant Surgeon collaborated with AGI, the Gastrociti at Orison Hospital, Ludhiana Road, 5th floor Orison Hospital, Barewal Road, Ludhiana to launch OPD facilities for patients with liver problems.
The OPD will be led by Dr Punit Singla, Liver Transplant Surgeon, and his team between 11 am and 4 pm. The AGI team from Orison Hospital was represented by Dr Nirmaljeet Singh Malhi, Dr Rajiv Grover and Dr Jagmeet Dhingra.
40-year-old Satvinder Singh (Name changed) was shifted from Ludhiana to Dr Punit with acute on chronic liver failure, kidney failure, COVID, multiple BP Support medications, and abdominal wall bleed. Shifting such patients is in itself a tough and risky task; he was successfully transferred from about 400 Kilometres. The patient was optimized in ICU by multiple specialized teams. He underwent Liver Transplant with the donor being his wife. Currently, he is fully recovered and back to normal health and life, actively working in his business. The donor is also continuing a normal life. The case was a challenging one with multiple diseases, the surgeons team having to undertake a high-risk surgery with a very sick patient who would have died in 1-2 days in the condition he was brought in.
There are several such cases recorded from Ludhiana and unfortunately, due to the paucity of cadaveric organ donation in Punjab, patients with end-stage liver failure must depend on live donors. It is a redeeming fact that since the liver is a regenerative organ, the challenges become reduced to some extent. Ludhiana records almost 60-70 patients approaching leading hospitals for treatment of liver diseases, most of whom require a liver transplant. There are also a high number of road accident deaths recorded every year in Ludhiana and yet organ donation is abysmally low in the Northern part of the country.
The liver is one of the largest organs in the human body and performs some of the most vital functions such as digestion, maintenance of immunity and metabolism, filtration of the blood and removal of toxins, storage of vitamins and minerals, and storage of nutrients in the body. Termed as the Kitchen of the body, these functions are responsible for providing energy to the body for performing various tasks and activities. At end-stage liver failure, a patient needs a liver transplant. This condition can be caused by several factors which can be lifestyle-driven, acquired infections, and liver diseases.
Dr Punit Singla, Director & HOD Liver Transplant, Marengo Asia Hospitals says, Nothing can be more elevating than witnessing health at its best in the patients a surgeon has treated through organ transplantation. The liver is the only visceral organ to possess remarkable regenerative potential. In other words, the liver grows back. This regenerative potential is the reason why partial liver transplants are feasible. Once a portion or lobe of the liver is transplanted, it will regenerate in both patient and the donor. There are several reasons why patients need a liver transplant. Our effort through this event is to dispel any apprehensions or fears about the surgical procedure. We have brought our patients to interact and spread awareness on how the surgery can benefit any individual who requires this surgery for a better life and better future.