Surgeons at SUMUM use minimal invasive surgery to remove large skull base tumour

Bhubaneswar: Surgeons of SUM Ultimate Medicare here have successfully removed a cricket ball size skull base tumour from a 15-year-old boy through minimal invasive surgery.

Sudam Kishku, who belongs to Mayurbhanj district, had experienced gradual facial swelling and pain lateral to his left eye for nearly six years. It progressively became a large swelling close to the eye worrying the family members.

They took the boy to several hospitals but no solution to the medical condition could be found.
When they brought the boy to SUM Ultimate Medicare recently, the patient was admitted under Dr. Radhamadhab Sahu, Senior Consultant and Head of Department of ENT and Skull Base Surgery. A thorough examination of the boy and relevant radiological investigations revealed the existence of a 7 cm tumour involving the left supra and infratemporal fossa.

Dr. Sahu said the location of the large tumour involving the base of the skull presented a difficult proposition. “It was difficult to remove the tumour completely and take care of cosmesis of the face at the same time,” he said.

“We opted for endoscope assisted minimal invasive surgery adopting trans zygomatic approach to remove the tumour completely which lasted for two hours,” Dr. Sahu said.

The boy recovered well and was free from any complication. He was discharged from the hospital on the fourth day after surgery. The biopsy report suggested it to be a nerve sheath tumour or ‘Schwannoma’, he said adding the post operative scan revealed a complete tumour removal.

Dr. Sahu said trigeminal nerve Schwannoma of such big size in a 15-year-old boy is a rare occurrence as these tumours are found in people in the age group of 30 to 50 years. Usually these tumours led to facial pain, numbness and paresthesia in the distribution of one of all the divisions of trigeminal nerve depending upon the location of the tumour, he said.

Endoscopic skull base surgery is a highly intricate minimal invasive surgical procedure which is done in a routine manner at SUM Ultimate Medicare. The hospital’s Department of ENT and Skull Base Surgery has helped many such patients bringing a smile on their face.