Treating Diabetes Wounds - Dr. Sanjay Kolte, General Surgeon in Pune

Diabetes is a chronic disease where the blood sugar level increases. This can be due to the inability of pancreas to produce enough insulin or due to failure of the cells to respond to the insulin produced. Increased thirst, increased hunger and increased urination are common symptoms of diabetes.

When you have diabetes, then you are strictly not allowed to ignore a minor wound on your body. A minor cut, if neglected, can cause major problems to a diabetic person. 

These include:

• Weakened Immune System: A minor wound can also cause infection if the body’s immune system is down.

• Neuropathy:You don’t feel the pain of a blister or cut until it gets worse.

• Narrow Arteries: People with narrow arteries are more likely to get wound infections and their wound healing process also is slow.

Symptoms of Foot Ulcers:

Any person who has diabetes can develop foot ulcer. Pain is not a very common symptom for this, because most of the people lose the feeling of pain. You can see redness or swelling, and not notice some bad odour.

Treating the diabetic wound:

• No matter how small the wound is, if you have diabetes, then it must be healed as early as possible to avoid any type of infection.

• Don’t Waste Time: Take care of the wound immediately so as to avoid any further infection or major problem.

• Clean-up the Wound: Remove the dirt by rinsing the wound under running water. Apply antibiotic ointment and cover the wound with sterile bandage. Change the bandage daily.

• See your Doctor: Don’t ignore even minor symptoms of wound and see your doctor immediately. Have the wound healed before it causes infection.

Proper Care: If your wound is healing, take proper care of the affected area. For example, if you have wound at the foot, make sure you wear proper footwear and socks. And keep the affected area clean.

Laparoscopic Surgery Treatment for Paraesophgeal Hernia

Minimally invasive surgical techniques have revolutionized the treatment par esophageal hernia—but there's continued controversy over some key technical aspects of the procedure. Five nationally recognized leaders in fore gut surgery "systematically and point-by-point" outline their approach to this effective but technically challenging procedure. The special feature section provides "a fascinating picture in which all authors agree that the basic principles of the operation should be respected," according to an introductory article by Dr. Sanjay Kolte. " 

Paraesophgeal hernia is a common condition in which part of the stomach becomes herniated through the diaphragm and into the chest—higher than the junction between the esophagus and stomach. In addition to stomachache and difficulty swallowing, patients may experience chest pain, especially after meals, and shortness of breath. When other treatments can't relieve symptoms, surgery is recommended.

In the past, surgery was performed through an open incision in the abdomen or chest. But over the past decade, minimally invasive laparoscopic approaches have revolutionized the treatment of Paraesophgeal hernia.

Laparoscopic surgery provides excellent results with a low rate of recurrent hernia, less pain, and faster recovery.

But the laparoscopic procedure is technically challenging, with a "long learning curve" for surgeons, and is best performed by experienced specialists at referral medical centers. And even among the experts, there is ongoing debate regarding key areas of surgical technique.

Cancer Treatment - Cancer Surgeon in Pune, Maharashtra

Cancer, broadly called as malignancy, is caused due to abnormal growth of the cells. There are about 100 types of cancer and the symptoms and treatment of each varies from the other. Cancer types include skin cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, etc.

Normal cells follow a fix and orderly pattern of growth, division and death. But when this pattern breaks down, cancer starts to grow in the body. The cancer cells grow and divide. Due to this, there is uncontrollable growth of cells all over the body which hampers its proper functioning.

Treatment to cure cancer depends on the type of cancer and its stage. This may include traditional treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and new forms of treatments and complementary and alternative therapies.

Cancer Surgery:

It is used to detect cancer, determine its stage and cure it. Biopsy, a surgery type, is used to diagnose cancer. In biopsy, a tissue sample from the affected area is taken and is examined to determine the presence of cancer.  Every cancer affected person will have some type of surgery. Surgery is most effective and cures the person completely if the cancer has not spread to other parts of the body.

Chemotherapy:

Chemotherapy involves use of drugs or medicine to treat cancer. It may consist of a single drug or combinations of drugs. It is given orally in the form of a pill, administered in the vein or injected in the body cavity.  Most of the cancer affected people are given chemotherapy. If one becomes aware of the side effects and outcomes of this method, then chemotherapy can prove pretty helpful.

Radiation Therapy:

Radiotherapy or radiation therapy uses high energy particles or waves to damage or destroy the cancer cells. This method is used to eradicate visible tumours. However this method is not useful if the cancer cells have spread all over the body. It is used to cure or eliminate cancer or to provide relief from some of the symptoms of cancer. Radiation therapy is used with other methods of treatment or sometimes alone.

Hormonal Therapy:

Hormonal therapy is used to breast cancer or prostate cancer. Hormones are the natural substances that stimulate the growth of hormone sensitive tissues like the prostate gland. When cancer occurs in breast or prostate tissue, then the hormones may cause the cancer cells to grow and spread in the body. This can be avoided by using a drug that controls the hormones from doing so.

Targeted Therapy:

This is the newer treatment method of cancer. In this method, only the cancer cells are targeted and killed. In conventional methods like chemotherapy, healthy cells are also killed along with cancer cells. Newer methods of treatment use drugs that can distinguish between healthy cells and cancer cells.

Apart from these, there are also other treatments of cancer like 

immunotherapy :

It uses body’s immunity to fight cancer, 

hyperthermia : 

It uses heat to treat cancer, stem cell transplant, photodynamic therapy, Laser treatment, etc.

Colorectal Cancer

Colon cancer is caused at the large intestine i.e. colon (lower part of the digestive system) and rectal cancer is the cancer caused at the end of the colon. Together they are denoted as colorectal cancers. It is also known as bowel cancer. It is caused due to uncontrolled cell growth in the colon or rectum or in appendix. This cancer can show prominent symptoms of anemia and rectal bleeding.

The cancer begins with a small, non-cancerous benign of cell called as polyps. With time, these polyps become colon cancer. Doctors recommend regular screening tests to avoid colon cancer by early identification of polyps before they cause colon cancer. Bowel cancer is diagnosed through colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy.

The research shows that colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer all over the world. But it is observed that mostly people of the developed countries are affected by colorectal cancer. This type of cancer is caused to lifestyle and increasing age. Minority cases show underlying genetic disorders as the cause of this cancer.

Colorectal cancer starts in the lining of the bowel and grows into the muscles layers underneath and then through the bowel wall, if not treated on time. At the age of 50 till 75 years of age, screening is recommended to decrease the chances of death due to colorectal cancer. If diagnosed and treated on time, colorectal cancer is curable. If not, then chemotherapy, surgery are advised to colorectal cancer patients.

Usually bowel cancer shows no early symptoms.

The warning signs may include the following:

• Pelvic Pain
• Abdominal discomfort
• Dark patches of blood in stool
• Unexplained fatigue
• Loss appetite and/or weight loss
• Changes in bowel movements, which includes diarrhea or consistent constipation, difficulty in constipation, rectal cramping or rectal bleeding

Obesity Surgery

Obesity was once counted as a problem in developed countries only, but nowadays we can see that almost everywhere in the world, obesity and overweight have become serious problems. We generally see people neglecting health and competing in the race of success. We do not have enough time for exercising and eating healthy food. Fast and junk food have become very common today and from young kids are seen consuming junk foods on regular basis.

Obesity can cause different diseases like type 2 Diabetes, heart diseases, some type of cancer, high blood pressure, etc. Obesity can be reduced today by different methods and obesity surgery is one of them. Weight loss surgery is very famous these days and many people go for it. It is trusted method to lose your extra kilograms.

• Who can do an obesity surgery?
• People with BMI(body mass index) greater than 40.
• People with BMI between 35 and 40 who are facing obesity related diseases like type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, etc.
• Women who are 80 pounds overweight and men who are 100 pounds overweight.

Numbers of obesity surgery options are available like adjustable gastric band, intragastric balloon, sleeve gastrectome, biliopancreatic diversion, and gastric bypass surgery.

The after-surgery program helps to maintain a proper health and weight:

• Medical Follow-up
• Support Group
• Psychological Counseling
• Nutrition and Exercising Programs
• Cooking Classes

Overview of Laparoscopy

Laparoscopy, also known as keyhole surgery, is done to find out problems like adhesions, fibroid, infections and cysts. It is a surgical procedure in which the surgeon looks inside the abdomen and pelvis by making small incision in the belly. This is done by putting a small thin tube, which consists of a light source and a camera, in the cut in belly. The camera shows the images inside the pelvis or abdomen to the television monitor.

In many cases, laparoscopy is preferred over laparotomy surgery that involves making a large incision in the belly. Laparoscopy proves to be less stressful, causes minimal scarring, requires less recovery time and causes less paining after the operation. 

When is Laparoscopy done?

It is done to:

• ·         To fix inguinal hernia or hiatus hernia.
• ·         Do a bioscopy.
• ·         Find the cause of sudden pelvic pain.
• ·         Find the causes of why is it difficult for a woman to get pregnant. These causes may include infections, cysts, adhesion and fibroid.
• ·         Do a tubal ligation.
• ·         Take out organs such as spleen, gall bladder, uterus, ovaries, and appendix.
• ·         Check and remove the abnormal growths in the belly like tumors.

 Laparoscopy is very common these days and is regarded as a safe surgery. Complications due to this surgery are very rare and can be seen in 1 in 1000 cases. Complications may include injury to major artery and damage to organs such as bowel or bladder.