First Intestinal Transplant in India

A 30-year old software engineer became the first Indian recipient of an intestinal transplant following the surgery at Gurgaon's Medanta Medicity.

MOHAN Foundation coordinated this first successful small intestinal transplantation in the country. The small intestine donation was possible due to the sharing of organs between hospitals. The donor was from Sir Ganagram Hospital in N.Delhi.

Himanshu was diagnosed with thrombosis (blockage) of the main vein of his intestine back in 2009 and underwent six surgeries through which doctors removed over 95 percent of his intestine.

He was put on the waiting list of intestinal transplant and two years later, he was successfully matched with a donor on November 24, 2012.

Stating that Himanshu's abdominal cavity had shrunk over the last three years, Dr A S Sonin, who headed the surgery team, said, "During the surgery, we removed most of Himanshu's remaining small intestine and a part of the large intestine to make space for the new intestine. This was necessary as his abdominal cavity had shrunk due to the missing bowel over the past three years. The new small intestine was transplanted, joining the blood vessels to the recipient's and the ends of the new intestine to the existing proximal and distal bowel."

Source: Medindia