New prostrate surgery in TT

MEDICAL history was created at the San Fernando General Hospital yesterday when Guyanese urologist, Dr Deen Shar-ma, performed an operation to reduce bleeding during prostate surgery.

The operation involves injecting a solution into the prostate gland during trans-utrinal prostate surgery. The technique, developed by Sharma, utilises a single injection called vaso-pressing injection. Normally, the operation results in excessive bleeding in which patients have to be administered several pints of blood. Dr Sharma, who has published several papers in the British Journal Of Urology, said the procedure was designed to “make a quite difficult operation fairly simple”. He identified the major problem of prostate operation to be excessive bleeding. This, according to the doctor, clouds the urologist’s view when performing the operation.

Dr Sharma said the technique “halved the bleeding” making the operation safer for the patient. The urologist, who has performed the procedure for the past 10 years, said the operation was “an original work”. Dr Sharma said the procedure involves injecting the prostate with a solution before commencing the operation. “That solution reduces blood loss by half, which means we can better see what we are doing,” he said. “Less blood loss translates into better visibility with translates into a safer operation.”  Dr Sharma said the cost for the operation would also be reduced by using his technique.