Shillong: Doctors at North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) here in Meghalaya has successfully performed the first Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) procedure in Meghalaya, an official said on Friday.
The procedure was performed on a 50-year-old woman with advanced cancer of the ovary. The patient is now recovering well and has been discharged from the hospital.
HIPEC also known as “hot chemotherapy” is a cancer treatment that involves filling the abdominal cavity with chemotherapy drugs that have been heated.
HIPEC is performed after the surgeon removes tumours inside the abdomen.
“This procedure needs a special machine which heats the chemotherapy and keeps it circulated in the abdomen for over an hour. HIPEC is a complex procedure, but it can be very effective in treating advanced cancer of the ovary. The procedure has been shown to improve survival rates and quality of life for patients,” NEIGRIHMS official explained.
“This is a major milestone for NEIGRIHMS and for the people of Meghalaya,” Director of NEIGRIHMS, Dr. Nalin Mehta said.
“HIPEC is a highly specialized procedure that is not available in many parts of the country. We are now able to offer this advanced treatment to our patients, and we are confident that it will help to improve their outcomes,” Metha said.
Meanwhile, Medical Superintendent of NEIGRIHMS, Dr. C. Daniala said that the institute is in the process of procuring a HIPEC machine.
“This will allow us to offer this procedure to more patients. We are committed to providing state-of-the-art cancer care to the people of Meghalaya, and HIPEC is a major step in that direction,” Daniala said.
Additional Professor, Department of Surgical Oncology, NEIGRIHMS, Dr. Caleb Harris, who led the surgical team, said, “We are confident that patients will benefit from this treatment.”
