A record case
The surgeons of the Annunziata Hospital in Cosenza went “beyond the limits of what is possible” with an advanced oncological surgery, since “a tumor that occupied a large part of the abdomen was removed”. The intervention is the result of the multidisciplinary collaboration of various professionals, doctors and surgeons who work in the company. This was announced by the husband of a 58-year-old patient from the province of Cosenza, who wants to make this news public so that it is known that one should not always and only talk about medical malpractice in Calabria.
“My wife looked pregnant but it was not possible, and to increase her belly, for several months a malignant tumor that has now been removed” and continues “I still can’t believe it, even after seeing the photos of the surgery, and I want to tell everyone this amazing story. I was told that it was a malignant tumor originating from the retroperitoneum that had invaded the right kidney and part of the intestine ”. The patient had noticed, since July of last year, a strange swelling of the belly but she had attributed it to the effects of the drugs she was taking for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. In reality, what made the belly grow was a huge tumor that expanded from the liver to the bladder, irreparably incorporating the right kidney and the right side of the colon.. It was an exceptional operation which consisted in the en bloc removal of a “retroperoitoneum tumor weighing a total of 7.5 kg”. This is a record for Calabrian surgery and, of course, there are few precedents of similar magnitude in Italy and abroad.
The patient’s husband is keen to thank Professor Nardo and his team. “We wanted to pay a visit with the Chief of General Surgery of the Annunziata of Cosenza, whom we knew for his fame, and after that meeting, we totally entrusted ourselves to him and his team, and I must say that the trust has been rewarded. “. The professor was honest and immediately told us that he had to evaluate the feasibility of the intervention by studying the case of my wife also at a “three-dimensional anatomical table available at the University of Calabria” in the Department of Pharmacy, Health Science and Nutrition. After other tests carried out, he informed us that “the plane could take off, but that the journey could be very dangerous because, even if the intervention was technically feasible, the risk of mortality was high”. He also told us that to offer the maximum of possibilities he would have required the participation of more professionals in the operating room and so it was.
At the operating table, in addition to Prof. Bruno Nardo and his team, made up of Dr Marco Doni and Dr Daniele Paglione, also the head of Urology Dr Michele Di Dio, since the tumor encompassed the right kidney which was removed. The collaboration of the nursing staff, in particular of the instrumentalist Francesca Esposito and of the operative block referent Giuseppe Marano, is precious. To lead and manage the delicate phase of anesthesia, for about 8 hours of intervention, Dr. Brunelli. Although there were no surgical and anesthetic problems, in consideration of the extent of the operation, the patient spent the first night in intensive care, under close monitoring and the next morning she was returned to the “Falcone” General Surgery ward, not having more need for intensive care.
A few days ago he left the hospital, he is well and is having a regular course. “We were amazed by the normal course after such a complex operation” and the husband continues, “I thank for the assistance they have given to my wife, all the doctors of the General Surgery Department Falcone, and not only the doctors, but also the nurses and auxiliaries, who were always attentive and vigilant, day and night, and who, under the guidance of the head nurse Nicola Benedetto, helped her to get out of bed and make her walk a few days after the operation “.
It was a good page of good health, made possible thanks to the synergy, not only existing between the doctors and nurses of the Annunziata Hospital, but also thanks to the collaboration of the professors and researchers of the new Course of Medicine and Digital Technologies of the University of Calabria, primarily the Rector Nicola Leone, as well as the Professors Sebastiano Andò, Marcello Maggiolini and Maria Luisa Panno. Once again the three-dimensional anatomical table, which for a few months has been used by the team of Prof. Nardo with the support of Dr Rocco Malivindi, in the preoperative planning of the most complex clinical cases, proved to be very useful. The skills and technologies of the University of Calabria are an added value that Calabrian health care, and in particular that of the province of Cosenza, must necessarily take into consideration, for the fight against cancer and to give concrete answers to Calabrian patients, to in order to avoid the journeys of hope to the hospitals of the North.