Mumbai: Covid-positive patient treated for pancreatic cancer

Arvind Ojha with his doctors

Despite having tested positive for Covid-19, a 54-year-old man underwent a complicated surgery to treat pancreatic cancer. The Bhubaneshwar resident found that he had cancer when he lost weight and appetite.

The patient, Arvind Ojha, decided to come to Mumbai during the second Covid-19 wave, after an endoscopic procedure to remove the blockage in the bile duct had gone wrong, and he developed infection in the biliary system.

Dr Imran Shaikh, consultant surgical gastro, and GI oncosurgery, Wockhardt Hospital, Mira Road, said, "When he came to us, he looked emaciated and frail. He had jaundice. A diagnostic test showed he had an infection in the biliary system. We decided to operate on him."

While the doctors were preparing him for the surgery, a huge setback came when Ojha turned positive for Covid-19.

The doctors, however, decided to go ahead with the surgery as his condition was deteriorating. The six-hour-long surgery was done in the specially designed negative pressure operation theatre.

"The surgery was difficult due to his infection, long-term jaundice, and stenting. We removed the cancer along with a part of the small intestine."