By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Taking into consideration the alarming rise in the number of gallstone patients in the region, NEIGRIHMS will be conducting the first ever surgical awareness cum service camp for patients of gall bladder disease at the hospital premises on December 3 and December 4.
During the two awareness campaign, the surgical department in NEIGRIHMS would also be conducting a free Laparoscopic operation for the patients suffering from gall bladder related ailments.
The institute is targeting to provide free operations to at least 40 people who are suffering from gall bladder disease during this two-day campaign.
Informing about this noble initiative taken up by the institute, Heads of NEIGRIHMS Surgical Department Dr Noor Topno said that the institute is deeply concerned seeing the rise of gall bladder diseases in the North Eastern region over the past few years.
“There are a large numbers of patients suffering from gall bladder diseases who have undergone operations in the hospitals. On an average, we would conduct around 20 Laparoscopic operations for gall bladder diseases in a single month. The figure would be higher since there are many other hospitals in the city who are conducting Laparoscopic operations for patients suffering from gall bladder diseases,” Dr Topno said
While admitting that the situation is alarming, he however believed that a detailed study to find out the various causes which leads to gall bladder diseases has to be taken up.
“We are planning to conduct a study on the causes of the gall bladder disease once the Post Graduate (PG) students join the institute. This study will be of utmost importance since it will help the doctors tackle with this disease in a more effective manner,” the NEIGRIHMS surgical department head said.
Meanwhile, he said that there is a general belief that the main factor which contributes to the rise of gall bladder disease is the fast changing life style and food habits.
When asked about the response to this two-day awareness campaign, Dr Topno said that so far the response is not as expected.
“The reason for this poor response might be because we are in the fat end of the year. Many people are still in the festive mood,” he said.
The NEIGRIHMS surgical department head said that they would be conducting around eight operations on the first day of the programme.
“The number might increase since people can still come to register themselves to avail these free Laparoscopic operations,” he said.
Meanwhile, some doctors believed that women suffered more from gallstones because of the hormonal changes after pregnancy which led to acidic deposit and other digestive problems, resulting in stone formation.
Some doctors said that there was an increasing tendency among women to eat junk food, a major cause for the formation of gallstones.
The alarming rise in the number of gallstone cases is not confined to Meghalaya. The illness has made its presence felt in neighboring Nagaland, Assam and Manipur as well.