The doctors of the United Arab Emirates performed a complex 12-hour long surgery, one of the longest in the world, in order to remove a 4 cm tumour from the pancreas of a Sudanese man aged 37.
The patient, Osman Ahmad Osman, experienced abdominal pains last year in October and thought it was jaundice.
When he got himself checked by doctors, he was shocked to find that he had cancer.
Osman then visited the doctor in a private hospital for treatment. He had his first surgery in November 2021 and second in May 2021 at different hospitals.
But, both the surgeries went unsuccessful, and doctors told him that his tumour was attached with adhesions, therefore, could not be removed.
He then consulted doctors at his friend’s suggestion at Burjeel Specialty Hospital in Sharjah.
The clinical lead & director of hepato pancreaticobiliary surgery & transplantation at the Burjeel Specialty Hospital, Sharjah, Dr Rehan Saif, stated that it was a complex case as the tumour could not be removed by surgery. But, they still wanted to try the surgery as they felt confident.
Dr Tasneem Abu Al-Foul and Dr Saif, general surgery specialist and Dr Osama, consultant & head of anaesthesia, mutually decided to conduct the ‘Whipple procedure,’ which is done in cases of tumours and other problems of the pancreas, intestine, as well as bile duct.
Dr Tasneem added that Osman had serious adhesions in the last two surgeries in his intestine. The last triple-bypass had to be undone before performing the pancreatic resection and reconstruction.
The complex surgery proved to be a lifesaver for the patient who had lost hope, and Osman was released from the hospital after ten days as the tests confirmed that he was cancer free.
However, he will still be required to undergo chemotherapy for 3 to 6 months according to the usual procedure in the case of pancreatic cancer patients.