Immediately on Monday 8/11/2011, I visited my family doctor with my brother. He after examining me, discussed my case with Dr. Shrikaant Kothekar. As per instructions of Dr. Kothekar, I had gone for Colour Doppler test where the lab. Doctor declared me a serious case and called Dr. Kothekar. Surprisingly, I was advised to get admitted in the hospital immediately. Not aware of my condition fully, I acted as per the advice of Dr. Kothekar and got admitted in Wockhardt Hospital. Actually I was diagnosed to have left lower limb DVT.

Within two hours of my admission, Dr. Kothekar did a medical procedure on me. I underwent IVC gram IVC filter, left lower limb venogram and local thrombolysis done on that day itself. Further I was treated with Inj. Urokinase 60000 units/hr through pulse spray catheter, Inj. Heparin, anticoagulant, antibiotics, antacid and other supportive management.

I was discharged after 9 days. It took few more weeks to recover satisfactorily.

I am very much obliged that Dr. Shrikaant Kothekar diagnosed my problem correctly and treated me just at the right time. Any further delay could have caused a major disaster.

I am still under medication as advised by him and visit him at regular intervals.

In fact, I owe my life to him. If he would not have done all that on that day, then may be I would not have been here to write this.

I express my deep heartily gratitude to him and wish him all the best in life.

Ramesh Chandra Agrawal
406, Kalpana Apartments.
Ramdaspeth.
Nagpur – 440010.
98501-52000 / 94236-80659

I passed black tarry stools. Panic gripped me.I contacted my revered teacher & my mentor Dr. S.G. Agrawal who came to my home and then I was admitted with another friend of mine Dr.T.V. Vyas .On admission P-96/min. & B.P. was 140/80. Morning I had two more massive bouts of Malaena and I was feeling giddy. My pulse rate was around 120/min., B.P. was 100 systolic. Blood transfusion was started and in a span of 5-6 hours I received Six transfusions.My Upper G.I.Endoscopy showed Posterior D.U. bleeding.

I was shifted to Ekvira hospital where my SAVIOUR Dr. Kothekar was called upon to take charge of the situation. He along with Dr.S.G.Agrawal decide to go ahead with Angiography with selective embolisation of Gastroduodenal artery.

Embolisation was successful and the bleeding stopped. I was discharged after three days from the hospital.

Follow up Upper G.I.Endoscopy done after 6 wks.,3 months & 1 year showed complete healing of the ulcer and there was no pyloric stenosis.

I am writing this only because of the efforts taken by Dr.Shrikant Kothekar & Dr. S.G.Agrawal.”I OWE MY LIFE TO THEM”. THANKS is a very small and meaningless word for them. I am really indebted to them.

Now a day, this procedure is very commonly done and widely known to everybody.

Interventional Radiology can be a life saving procedure in a near death phenomenon when a clot obstructs the flow of blood to vital organs like heart, lungs, brain, kidney etc. It can save a patient  if the condition is diagnosed within time and referred to on a war footing .

Interventional Radiology has saved many women from hysterectomy when excessive uterine bleeding challenged survival of the patient by blocking the flow of the   artery responsible for the bleeding. This has become a routine procedure which saves patient from Anesthesia. It also reduces morbidity & mortality due to  Hysterectomy, which  means removal of uterus. It   was  the only remedy of yester century for intractable uterine bleeding in menopausal period of middle aged women & young women after delivery.

Putting stents in narrowed arteries  has become frequently used technique. A damaged aorta also can be repaired by using a suitable stents.

Venous obstructions   can be treated by putting stents and venous thrombosis can be treated by dissolving the thrombus by using thrombolytic agents. Abnormal artero- venous communication can be treated by Interventional Radiology procedure called emobilization, which blocks abnormal communication. Clots anywhere in body in artery or vein can be treated by thrombolysis which is a procedure in  which the clot is dissolved by use of thrombolytic   agents. Interventional Radiology is a technique used by Radiologists who are trained in the procedure.  It is a relatively a simple procedure  which gives decisive treatment for ailments related to blood vessels in the body. The procedure does not need anesthesia and the time taken can be measured in minutes. The hospital stay does not exceed a day or two.

Interventional Radiological procedures are done in especially equipped ‘Cath Labs’ where the table used for the procedure has x ray emitting tube underneath. The x ray pass through the body of the patient lying  on this specially designed table and the image is picked up by a specially designed camera like instrument which transmits the photographic image to a computer screen. The patient lying on table if co-operative and  wide awake during the procedure  can watch the procedure on the computer screen by his own eyes.

Nagpur has 15 Cath Labs which are using services of Interventional Radiologist regularly. The chances of failure of the procedure are almost zero. Use of CT and MRI Angiography before the procedure pinpoints the diagnosis and predicts the prognosis

Very rarely in certain procedures failure of Intervention may necessitate a major operative procedure and use of Anesthesia. The patient has to be shifted to a hospital for surgery where elaborate surgical theater is available.

A Cath Lab where facility for Major surgical procedure is available is called Hybrid Cathlab. In such cathlabs any unexpected emergency can be tackled. The services of an anesthetist and surgeon are available on spot. Nagpur has  such a hybrid Cath lab,   in Dr. K.G. Deshpande memorial hospital in Gokulpeth, Nagpur, under the supervision of Dr. P. K. Deshpande, who is a cardiac surgeon. It is only of its type   in SAARC countries. Such 37 labs exist in the world.  

Interventional Radiology has helped to treat many problems arising of snags in vascular system. It has not only saved lives but it has saved money of many patients and also reduced the time required as the hospital stay is minimal.

Interventional Radiological procedures are routinely done in Nagpur. The comparative cost of these is much less than the one in many centers like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore etc.

I myself have experienced the efficiency of the procedure and expertise available in Nagpur.

I am myself a doctor, a pediatrician to be precise. When I went to surgeon Dr. Mukund Thakur for complaint of minor pain is abdomen, he advised ultrasound examination which revealed possibility of Aneurism. Aneurism is ballooning of a part of artery, due to weakness in its wall.

For confirmation of the diagnosis CT and MRI was done which pinpointed the diagnosis of Aneurism of splenic artery. The original diameter of the artery was 3m.m. which was bloated to 6o m.m. of balloon.

10 years back treatment would have meant a major operation of doing away with Aneurism and removal of my spleen. The procedure could have led to death if failed as puncturing the balloon accidentally can kill a patient by bleeding.

Interventional Radiologist Dr. Shreekant Khothekar when consulted was very confident that he can treat the malady by putting a stent across the balloon. The stent is flexible tube made of tough material which can stay in body for years without creating problem. I could watch the procedure on screen as I was fully awake throughout.

A specially designed catheter tube was inserted in the artery of right groin   through which folded stent was passed into the Aneurism and made to fit  snuggly across the Aneurism.

The procedure took place in Hybrid  Cathlab of Dr. P.K. Deshpande. The travel of the tube and the stent could be seen and monitored and reaching it at the preplanned spot was manipulated by Dr Shreekant Kothekar by watching on the computer screen. The  procedure  took hardly 15 minutes. I was hospitalized for 3 days during which I was fully conscious and could talk and meet my relatives and friends and could eat normal food.

Though I am myself a doctor, I was thrilled to watch and experience the marvel of Interventional Radiology and dexterity and skill of Interventional Radiologist and his team which involved Dr. Vikas Bisne a cardiologist, Dr. P. K. Deshpande , a cardiac Surgeon, Dr. Mukund Thakur, a general surgeon, Dr. Vivek Bhargav and Dr. Mrs Avantika Jaiswal  who were Anesthetists.

I am grateful to the technique of Interventional Radiology and team of doctors who performed the procedure and saved my life, my time and money. By mercy of God I am absolutely fine leading a normal life.

When first diagnosed Dr. Damodar Jape the ultra-sonologist had expressed the presence of Aneurism in the words ‘sitting on volcano’ it had precisely described the seriousness of my problem. It had predicted possibility of death if the Aneurism had burst before it could be treated.

GOD IS GREAT AND SO IS INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGIST

Thus, operation was scheduled on 22.02.2010 at 12:30 pm as per the decieded schedule operation was initiated by Dr. Kothekar. At he time of operation I was completely concious additionally. I has the opportunity to see my complete operation in the mirror fixed above me. Simultaneously my family members could also view the “live” operation going on inside the operation theatre on the screens provided.

Meanwhile, during the operation Dr. Kothekar, punctured a major vein on my right thigh and then inserted a very thin capillary through it long enough to reach the brain. The other end of the capillary lying outside my body was connected to a small pumping machine which continuously reciprocated the process of removing out the clotted blood & pumping in the medicine to the brain. Post operation I was shifted to ICCU. Thereafter on 26th Feb 2010 I was dischared.

Dr. Kothekar always provided extended help in every scenario. He is an gentle man who is soft-spoken and hard working & quite inlettectual in his work. The environment of the hospital is positive, each memeber of the hospital is of friendly-helping attitude and always served & looked upon me as family member.

Now, as a member of this family I wish them regards, and pray for their success in all aspects of life so that they can serve more no. of needful people like me.

Your’s sincerly,
K.I. Sakhare

In the due course of time the pain has turned severe and frequent ,you won’t believe I must have consumed hundreds of pain killer just like vitamin tables , off let the pain has become so severe that I had to tie the calf and the ankle tightly . My toes were looking so dirty like I have not taken the bath since so long .

Luckily my friend’s marriage was there and I happened to meet his uncle who is pathologist in Nagpur,
He examined me and suggested to show Dr Shreekant Kothekar   in Nagpur
I went to show Dr, Shreekant Kothekar  I had been immediately admitted and angioplasty has been done

The reports were just shocking
Dr immediately started the treatment

But even after repeated efforts of the Dr. Shreekant Kothekar  there was no improvement I dr told us may be I will have to amputate my leg , you could think what could be the scenario around the family members .
Some were  going to temples , some were going to astrologer , some were doing jap and path ,few were trying for some other doctors , and thinking of surgery .

But out of all these one thing was noticeable and that was Dr. kothekar,s confidence towards the progress and he told as you are free to take him any where in the world if you thingk the treatment what is going on is not perfect.
Believe me it is only his attitude which helped a lot and made us to decide not to switch over any where else but to continue with his treatment , and finally the result came  which was not less than a miracle.
He is the only one along with the good wishes of my nearer and dearer, , who saved my not only leg but my life.

Please write down the treat ment part