Dr. Pradeep Muley

Maybe you were the wrong ex-patient for so & so surgery that you never  wanted to go for. At least thousands of Indian’s or more suffer complications. The fact is, no matter how talented the surgeon, the body doesn’t much care about the doc’s credentials. Surgery is a trauma, and the body responds as such — with major blood loss and swelling, and all manner of nerve and pain signals that can stick around sometimes for months.

Those are but a few reasons to try to minimize elective surgery. And I found even more after talking with more than 25 experts involved in various aspects of surgery and surgical care, and after reviewing a half-dozen governmental and medical think tank reports on surgery in the United States. Here’s what you need to know about five surgeries that are overused and alternative solutions that may be worth a look.

The fact is, no matter how talented the surgeon, the body doesn’t much care about the doc’s credentials. Surgery is a trauma, and the body responds as such — with major blood loss and swelling, and all manner of nerve and pain signals that can stick around sometimes for months.

Those are but a few reasons to try to minimize elective surgery. And I found even more after talking with more than 25 experts involved in various aspects of surgery and surgical care, and after reviewing a half-dozen governmental and medical think tank reports on surgery in the United States. Here’s what you need to know about five surgeries that are overused and alternative solutions that may be worth a look.

1.    Hysterectomy- the SURGICAL TREATMENT (Alternative “ Uterine Artery Embolization for FIBROIDS & ADENOMYOSIS)

Common symptoms of fibroids and adenomyosis are: – heavy, prolonged painful menstrual periods with clots this might lead to anemia lower abdominal, back or leg pain, lower abdomen pressure or heaviness, bladder pressure leading to a constant urge to urinate, constipation, bloating and abnormally enlarged abdomen

There’s long been a concern, about the high rates of hysterectomy (removal of uterus) in our country. The surgery is commonly used to treat/ to remove benign fibroids and painful adenomyosis. If both the uterus and ovaries are removed, risk of heart disease and osteoporosis rises markedly. There are also potential side effects: pelvic problems, lower sexual desire and reduced pleasure. Hysterectomy should be considered only for uterine cancer. Dr. Pradeep Muley pioneer in uterine artery embolization for fibroids says: If a hysterectomy is recommended, get a second opinion and consider the alternatives. Uterine Artery Embolization for fibroids & adenomyosis using injectable pellets , shrink and “starve” fibroids into submission.  It is done under local anesthesia, no ugly surgical scar, all the fibroids treated in same sitting, need just one night hospitalization, no blood loss or risk of blood transfusion, short recovery than from hysterectomy or even laparoscopic surgery & with 97% of success rate.

Emotionally, financially and physically – embolization has an overall advantage over major surgery. Uterine artery embolization treatment is easier than simple abortion technique and worth trying if women want to save the uterus and to avoid major surgery like hysterectomy.

2.  Varicose Vein stripping surgery (Alternative non surgical treatment – RADIO-FREQUENCY ABLATION

Varicose vein causes swelling, aching pain, fatigue, skin pigmentation, itching, varicositie and if not treated, it may develop non-healing ulcers in leg. Till now vein stripping surgery & ligation of vein are performed, where the recurrence rate is too high & cause ugly scar in legs with long recovery. New technique called Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) treats VARICOSE VEIN WITHOUT SURGERY. This procedure needs no general anesthesia, no surgical scar, need just day care / over night hospital stay, no blood loss & makes faster recovery, resume normal activities on same day. Also the recurrence rate is too low as compared to major surgery.

3. Non-surgical Treatment for- Infertile couples (blocked fallopian tube in females, varicocele in males

Infertility affects over lakhs of couples in India. In females, blockade of fallopian tubes and in males, varicocele are the most common causes of infertility. Due to lack of awareness about non-surgical treatment, patients frequently undergo surgical treatments. Very simple non surgical technique “fallopian tube cannulation” and “varicocele embolization” are underutilized and done by interventional radiologist. Benefits are less pain, no surgical scar, performed on OPD, patients are able to return to normal daily activities immediately. A patient with both side varicoceles / blocked tubes can have them fixed simultaneously in one sitting, No general anesthesia / sutures / infections & it is cost-effective also.

4. Slipped disc surgery (Non-surgical Treatment by Neucleolysis-ozone therapy)

The Oxone-oxygen therapy is one of the most effective minimally invasive treatments currently available for lumber disc problem. The actions of ozone are – shrinkage of disc reduces nerve root compression & increasing the supply of oxygen, analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects with success rate is about 80%. Advantages of oxygen-ozone therapy – It is less risky as compared to surgery, cheaper than traditional surgery, no surgical scar on skin, exact localization of the disease is possible through image guidance, procedure done under local anesthesia, done as in OPD / day care basis, patients can resume normal activities within one to two day and its safety has been proven over many years in thousands of people.

5. Osteoporotic vertebral body compression fracture – Surgical treatment (Non-surgical treatment – Percutanous Vertebroplasty)

Despite recent advances in medical therapy for osteoporosis, osteoporotic vertebral fractures remain a common problem of patients. Osteoporotic vertebral compressions usually remain sub clinical and progress gradually; however, some patients develop an acute severe pain syndrome with limited mobility and functional deterioration. Traditional treatment included bed rest, analgesics, muscle relaxants, external back bracing and physical therapy. The majority of patients respond favorably to traditional treatment; however, there are some patients who fail with conservative therapy and suffer from prolonged pain and immobility, which can persist for life. Complications of vertebral compression fractures include : deep venous thrombosis; acceleration of osteoporosis; loss of height; respiratory or gastrointestinal disturbances; and emotional and social problems secondary to unremitting pain and loss of independence

Percutaneous vertebroplasty is a newer non-surgical technique in which a medical grade cement is injected though a needle into a painful fractured vertebral body. This stabilizes the fracture, allowing most patients to discontinue or significantly decrease analgesics and resume normal activity. Vertebroplasty is also useful in painful or unstable benign (like hemangiomas) and malignant/ cancer vertebral lesions that fail to respond to the traditional conservative therapies.

The success rate for this procedure in treating osteoporotic fractures is about 90-95%. Significant complications of the procedure are less than 1 percent.

Procedure – The back is numbed by a local anesthesia. Under guidance of high tech fluoroscope image, interventional radiologist passes a needle through the muscles in the correct position and medical bone cement is injected through the needle into the vertebra. As a rule, the procedure takes one hour for each vertebra that is treated.

After the procedure, patients lie flat on their backs for two hours while the cement hardens. They are then discharged and can resume normal activity. The majority of patients have significant pain relief within a few days.

Recently, Dr.Pardeep Muley, M.D. Head & Senior Interventional Radiology at Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, has created India’s first VARICOSE VEIN CLINIC & FIBROID CLINIC for non-surgical treatment.  Dr.Muley has been trained in USA and Singapore and has performed over 20,000 non-surgical treatments for various diseases like un-operable liver tumor, varicocele, bleeding from mouth due to chest TB, brain aneurysm & opening of blocked fallopian tubes that causes infertility.

For in-depth information, call 91-9810492778 or email – muleypradeep@hotmail.com or website – http://www.indianinterventionalradiology.in