M A I N   N E W S

Breach Candy ready to receive PM

MUMBAI, Oct 8 (PTI) — Security has been beefed up as Breach Candy Hospital here readies itself to receive Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for his left knee joint replacement surgery.

Mr Vajpayee arrives here tomorrow and is expected to stay in Raj Bhavan before his admission to the hospital overlooking the Arabian Sea in South Mumbai.

A New York based specialist, Dr Chittaranjan Ranawat, who will perform the surgery on October 10, is also expected here tomorrow, according to hospital sources.

The Prime Minister’s special protection force has already positioned itself in the hospital and Raj Bhavan. Launches carrying SPG personnel will maintain vigil from the rear side of the hospital along with Navy’s Coast Guard personnel.

The pm’s team will bring its own special transmitters, receivers and will have its own dedicated lines in the hospital and at Raj Bhavan, official sources said.

A special shamiana has been set up in the hospital compound to house the press enclosure where Union Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan is expected to brief the media.

Dr Ranawat, who visits Breach Candy every year to perform total knee joint replacement operations, will bring his team of doctors along with a set of special medical equipment specially for the Prime Minister.

Locally, he will be assisted by noted orthopaedic surgeons, Dr Nandu Laud and Dr Harish Bhinde.

‘Space suit’ worn during surgery

MUMBAI, Oct 8 (UNI) — For the first time in India, the modern “space suit”, one of the most sophisticated, foolproof and sterilised surgical attires, was employed by a noted orthopaedic surgeon, Dr C.J. Thakkar, during surgery here recently.

The space suit, as it is commonly known, is technically called the “body exhaust system” and comprises a helmet, battery and a gown. Dr Thakkar has procured four such attires from the USA recently at a cost of around Rs 3 lakh.

Dr Thakkar, who heads Advanced Orthopaedic Centre at Bandra here, recently performed a knee-replacement surgery, and the doctors during the operation used these attires. “Worldwide, the space suit is used in ultra modern joint replacement centres,” he said.

In the normal course the operating surgeon and his team wear gowns made of cotton. These gowns are steam sterilised. Within the first few minutes of starting an operation, the attire often gets stained with blood and the gown loses sterility, increasing the chances of infection.

The space suit, on the other hand, is designed on the lines of attire worn by astronauts. The suit consists of a special helmet with a bacterial filter. A battery-driven fan fitted in the helmet filters out particles and bacteria from the surgeon’s body, which are prevented from entering the operation theatre air.

The gown has a special seamless design with a visor for clear vision. It is made up of a special impervious material, which does not become wet during the operation, Dr Thakkar said. As a result, the sterility is maintained throughout the operation.

Since the conditions inside the suit could be regulated, the surgeon is far more comfortable inside the suit than doctors who use traditional gowns and face masks. “These suits also offers more mobility to the surgeon,”.