Doctors of the University Clinical Center Tuzla, at the Clinic for cardiovascular diseases, performed the first surgeries of aorta in deep hypothermic circulatory arrest in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This act crowned their longtime work. Director of this Clinic, Dr. Elmir Jahić, pointed out that surgeries performed by these doctors ranked the UKC Tuzla among the leaders in the treatment of aorta.
Mr. Mustafa Tabaković says that the surgery of aorta in deep hypothermic circulatory arrest is a very complex procedure because the body is cooled to 18 degrees Celsius, so that the patient would be kind of clinically dead. According to the cardio surgeon Tabaković, in this case the patient had injuries of head, neck, abdomen, thorax, pelvis and extremities, with later diagnosed traumatic destruction of aorta in the decedent part. Moreover, the patient was hemorrhaging in the brain stem so the doctors had to wait for the hematoma to regress.
This exceptionally complex procedure was performed by a team of doctors led by Dr. Alen Karić, who operated on a 69-year-old patient with a previously diagnosed cancer.
There were around two liters of blood in the patient’s abdomen because the patient was bleeding two days before the surgery. Doctors from Tuzla performed an extensive mutational procedure, first of its kind in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We have performed an exceptionally challenging surgery, which required wide opening of the thorax, cutting the diaphragm and complete paring of all organs in that part of the body. Access to the aorta was difficult and we had to resort to an extensive mutational procedure. In this case, all possible aggravating circumstances were present, the surgery plan was changed three times, but today I can say that the health condition of the patient is well and the patient is in recovery,” said Dr. Alen Karić. To him, performing this surgery brought professional and personal satisfaction, it is a crown to his previously invested efforts and work, but he hopes it is not the crown of his career and the careers of his colleagues and associates from the UKC Tuzla.
According to the Director of the Cardiovascular Clinic in Tuzla Dr. Elmir Jahić, surgery of aorta in deep hypothermic circulatory arrest costs between 80.000 and 100.000 EUR abroad. At the UKC Tuzla, this surgery is free, and the greatest satisfaction for the effort of the doctors is when a patient looks the doctor “eye to eye” from the hospital bed.
(Source: akta.ba)
