AIIMS Guwahati marks major milestone with commencement of open-heart surgery programme

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Guwahati, achieved a historic milestone with the successful initiation of its Cardiac Surgery Programme. For the first time, the institute successfully performed two open-heart surgeries in a single day, on a seven-year-old child and a 47-year-old woman from Assam, both suffering from congenital heart defects involving a hole in the heart.

The surgeries were successfully conducted on 8^th September under the leadership of Professor Colonel Dr. Ashok Puranik, Executive Director, AIIMS Guwahati. This landmark initiative was made possible through the collective efforts of the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery under the leadership of  Prof Vineet Mahajan, in collaboration with the Departments of Anaesthesia, Cardiology, Transfusion medicine and blood bank along with Cardiac perfusionists, paramedical and technical staff, and nursing teams.

Both patients were provided treatment under the AIIMS initiative supporting the establishment of the Cardiac Surgery Programme. The surgeries were performed using heart-lung machine (also known as cardiopulmonary bypass machine) that temporarily takes over the functions of the heart and lungs during open-heart surgery. The heart-lung machine used for these landmark procedures was donated through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of the ICICI Foundation.

The commencement of the Cardiac Surgery Programme marks another significant milestone in the development of AIIMS Guwahati. It will benefit the people Northeast and adjoining states, providing advanced cardiac surgical care closer to home and reducing the need for patients to travel to distant centres for treatment. In the near future, the Institute plans to further expand the programme to include coronary artery bypass surgery and other advanced cardiac surgical procedures, thereby strengthening its comprehensive cardiac care services.

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PG/BM