MKCG Medical College Hospital Resumes Open-Heart Surgeries After 36 Years

MKCG Medical College Hospital Resumes Open-Heart Surgeries After 36 Years

Open-heart surgery has resumed at MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur after a long hiatus of 36 years, marking a major milestone in the advancement of cardiac care in southern Odisha.

The breakthrough procedure was performed on a 26-year-old woman on Wednesday. Although hospital authorities refrained from disclosing extensive details, they confirmed that the patient had a congenital heart defect, a small hole in her heart, which was successfully repaired during a surgery that lasted over three hours.

Following the operation, the woman was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where she is currently on ventilator support and under close medical observation.

The last open-heart surgeries at MKCG MCH were performed in 1990 by then surgeons Dr Suresh Mishra and Dr Sachi Mishra. Since then, no open-heart procedures had been conducted in the hospital despite the availability of necessary equipment. The primary hurdle was the absence of a trained perfusionist, a specialist essential to operate the heart-lung machine during such surgeries.

The long-standing hurdle in resuming open-heart surgeries at MKCG Medical College and Hospital (MCH), Berhampur, was finally overcome after the Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) deputed a perfusionist from SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack. The perfusionist joined the hospital two weeks ago, enabling the Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS) department to become fully functional.

Located on the fifth floor of the multi-specialty PMSSY block, the CTVS department was established nearly five years ago and is equipped with modern infrastructure, including a state-of-the-art heart-lung machine. Despite having the necessary facilities, the lack of skilled personnel to operate critical machinery had stalled complex cardiac procedures.

MKCG MCH serves as the primary referral hospital for the southern districts of Odisha and routinely receives patients with severe cardiac conditions. However, in the absence of fully functional surgical capabilities, many were previously referred to tertiary care centers in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, or Visakhapatnam.

“We had the infrastructure in place, but lacked trained professionals to operate essential equipment. Now, with the perfusionist on board, we’ve bridged that gap,” said Dr. Sarada Prasanna Sahu, Associate Professor and Head of the CTVS department.

In recent months, the department has already undertaken two high-risk thoracic surgeries, one to remove a knife embedded in a patient’s chest, and another to extract an arrow lodged perilously close to the heart. With open-heart surgery services now fully restored, four more patients have been shortlisted for upcoming procedures at MKCG MCH, marking a new chapter in advanced cardiac care for the region.