Dr. Pushparani

Having heard about getting any sort of pulmonary disease might give you a nightmare. Well, yes there are pulmonary problems, which are dangerous and become life threatening. Pulmonary hypertension is one such rare disease. It is a type of high blood pressure, which usually occurs in the pulmonary arteries that stream from human heart through lungs. The arteries become narrowed, constricted, which makes the flow of blood difficult through the vessels. As the situation occurs, the heart will have to work more to fix the situation. This causes high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries. If the condition deteriorates the pressure increases along with risk factors. 

Symptoms of pulmonary hypertension

There are certain symptoms which people experience under the pulmonary hypertension disease. The symptoms might get unnoticed for years, and you might get delayed in treating such problems. This article can help you know about the disease, symptoms and its treatment. 

There is a list of symptoms, which can help you understand if you have pulmonary hypertension. 

 One of the major symptoms that you may notice is shortness of breath. The arteries and blood vessels which help in flowing blood through lungs help in breathing too. So a narrowed and constricted artery makes the inhalation and exhalation procedure laborious.

The next symptom that you might notice is fatigue and dizziness. If your lungs are not getting enough blood that means your brain and body are not getting enough oxygen to work. This hinders your body to perform any kind of activities smoothly. This can make you gain weight and increase several risk factors. 

Next, you might feel irregular heart beat and chest pain. Increased pressure makes the heart work faster than its normal rate. This further makes the heart muscles weaker, and it is not able to control the heart beat as it used to. 

Treatment of pulmonary hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension is generally treated with medication and surgery. Depending on its severity, your doctor will prescribe the medicines. Generally, doctors prescribe such medicines, which help in relaxing the blood vessels. The relaxed blood vessels can regulate blood flow easily. All the medicines are generally taken orally or injected or inhaled. 

If you adopt a severe case of pulmonary hypertension, then your doctor might suggest you a lung transplant or a heart-lung transplant. 

Depending upon the type of pulmonary hypertension, your doctor may prescribe you blood-thinning medicines also, if you have blood clots in your arteries. 

In a certain type, doctors prescribe oxygen therapy, which helps in increasing the oxygen level in blood.

With the above mentioned methods, doctors ask for a change in lifestyle, which is important in treating the specific disease.

Laparoscopic Surgery, also known as Keyhole Surgery, is a minimally invasive technique in which operations are performed through small incisions made far from the location of surgey. 

Laparoscopic Surgery has many advantages over the traditional open surgery procedures. It is reliable,has lower risk of complications and reduces the chances of increased pain and bleeding. The small incisions made while performing this operation enables a faster recovery. 

How is it performed? 

Laparoscopic Surgery is performed with the help of an instrument called Laparoscope. It has a thin tube-like structure and long with a camera at the end of it along with a light source. The laparoscope is inserted into the body through a small cut. that allows doctors to visualise the inside of the abdomen with magnification and perform surgery by watching real time video on the medical monitor using special long instruments which are inserted using very small cuts. 

Reasons Behind Performing Laparoscopic Surgery For Diagnosis:

Abdominal Problems are usually diagnosed by using non invasive modalities such as MRI, CT scan, and Ultrasound technology. If these fail to provide enough information, then laparoscopic surgery is performed for a better diagnosis of the condition. It can also be performed in a case when the doctors need a sample of tissue from a part of the abdomen. 

For Treatment : 

Laparoscopic surgery is preferred in Gallbladder removal for gall bladder stones (Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy) , for repair of different types of abdominal wall hernias.(Laparoscopic hernia repairs) , for removing an inflamed appendix (Laparoscopic Appendicectomy) , for removal of diseased uterus (Laparoscopic Hysterectomy) and also surgery for weight loss (Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery) 

The main advantages of Laparoscopic Surgery are : 

• Early Recovery 
• Less Pain 
• Better Cosmetic Result 
• Early Return to Work 
• Less Infection Rate 
• Reduced Hospital Costs. 

Laparoscopic Surgery is safe and trusted by many surgeons worldwide and has resulted in paradigm shift in the treatment of patients requiring surgery. 

New Developments : 

1. Hand-assist laparoscopy: Hand Access Devices are new Laparoscopic devices which help the doctor perform various functions by having their hand inside the surgical location. Such hand-assist surgeries are called the hand-assist laparoscopy and are used in surgeries like colon removal and kidney removal. 
2. Robot Assisted Surgery: This is surgery in which the procedure is carried out by robotic arms and instruments which are controlled by a surgeon sitting on a control centre.It results in a high precision surgery and difficult areas can be accessed.