Bronchoscopic Intervention Offers Hope for Lung Cancer Patients in J&K

Happy for my team, first successful intervention of it’s kind for lung cancer in Kashmir: Dr Naveed

In a first of it’s kind in the history of medical science in Jammu and Kashmir in revolutionizing lung cancer treatment, a team of doctors in the valley has “successfully” managed “Bronchoscopic Intervention” to a lung cancer patient.

Revolutionizing Cancer Treatment

The management carried out an intervention at one of the associated hospitals of Government Medical College (GMC) in Srinagar's Chest Disease hospital.

Professor Dr Naveed Nazir Shah, the head of the department, confirmed to Ground Report about the development and stated that the management successfully performed it for the first time in Kashmir.

“ Yes, the management is a first of it’s kind in the valley and our team is very happy to perform this management. The patient is fine and stands discharged from the hospital”, Dr. Naveed said.

An official spokesperson said that with the pursuit of upgrading and providing advanced services to the patients, Chest Diseases Hospital has started another advanced technique “Electro cautery knife and CRE (controlled radial expansion) balloon dilatation” for palliative care of cancer patients.  

The official stated, "We referred a 60-year-old male with lung cancer to Chest Disease Hospital due to a history of shortness of breath and noisy breathing. Additionally, we administered chemo-radiotherapy to manage the patient's lung cancer."

The official said, "We relieved the obstruction using an electrocautery knife and CRE (controlled radial expansion) balloon dilatation. We also applied topical Mitomycin C locally (at the site of obstruction) to avoid or reduce the chances of restenosis and obstruction."

The official stated that they performed the procedure under conscious sedation and the patient immediately experienced relief of symptoms post-procedure. They observed the patient for 12 hours and later discharged them.

Airway Obstruction: Causes and Symptoms

According to health experts, airway obstruction is caused by a number of diseases that include both cancerous and non-cancerous causes. Patients present with varying degrees of symptoms ranging from cough, and shortness of breath to life-threatening respiratory failure. 

Experts state that the management of such patients includes bronchoscopic intervention like application of laser, use of electrocautery or placement of endobronchial stents and surgical interventions. 

Experts added that most of the time patients are not medically fit to undergo surgery and could be managed with bronchoscopic interventions.

A senior doctor at Government Medical College (GMC) said that the facility of various bronchoscopic interventions for the management of airway stenosis is available at Government Chest disease hospital, Srinagar. 

“It has improved the management of patients with airway obstruction and will reduce the need of such patients to move outside UT”, he said.

Team Performs Lung Cancer Procedure

A team of interventional pulmonologists led by the head of the department, Prof. Dr. Naveed Nazir Shah, Dr. Tajamul Hussain, Dr. Firdous Manzoor, Dr. Aaliya Azad, Dr. Adnan Hamza, Dr. Hina Mustafa, Dr. Naeem, Dr. Arshid Ahmad, and Dr. Aadil, performed the procedure at GMC, as confirmed by the hospital authorities. Anaesthesia support during the procedure was provided by Dr Nazima and Dr Sadiya under the guidance of HOD Prof.Dr Rukhsana Najeeb. 

And that for the management OT technicians included Mr Gulzar, Mr Muhammad Younis and Mr Hafiz.

The hospital authorities at GMC added that the department headed by Dr Naveed with the support of Dr Khursheed and other 

faculty members have already started advanced interventional procedures like Rigid bronchoscopy and stenting in cancer patients.

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