New Delhi, India: A massive 50-kilogram ovarian tumor was removed by doctors from the Apollo Hospital in New Delhi in a 3-hour surgery.

The tumor, which was half the bodyweight of the patient, is reportedly the largest tumor that had been removed from an ovary.

The patient, who is 52, was gaining weight for the last few months and ended up weighing 106 kilograms.

Dr. Arun Prasad, a senior consultant, Surgical Gastroenterology, and Bariatric Surgery at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, said that the patient had a number of symptoms, which includes pain in the lower abdomen, problems in walking, disturbed sleeping patterns, and breathing problems.

With rapid weight gain and increased symptoms, the family of the patient consulted a local surgeon, who referred them to Dr. Prasad and the Apollo Hospitals.

Dr. Prasad explained:

Upon investigation, it was revealed that the woman had a giant, progressively expanding tumour in her ovary and this was putting pressure on her intestine (intestinal adhesions) causing acute stomach ache and inability to digest food. Additionally, her haemoglobin level dropped to six, causing severe anaemia.

The surgery reportedly happened on August 18, 2020.

A team of surgeons extracted the 50-kilogram tumor from the ovary of the patient.

Dr. Prasad, who has 30 years of experience as a surgeon, said that he had never come across a case where the tumor of the patient was almost half the weight of the host.

Dr. Prasad added:

In over 30 years of my experience as a surgeon I have never come across a case where the tumour weighed almost half the person”s body weight. Previously, the largest case was in 2017 from Coimbatore where a lady was operated for a 34-kg tumour in her ovary. Extraction of a 50-kg tumour was a challenge for the team. More so because the patient had exceptionally low haemoglobin and had to undergo in total six units of blood transfusion before, during and after the procedure.

Because of the massive size of the tumor, doctors had to use traditional ways of surgery as minimally invasive procedures were impossible to carry out.

Dr. Prasad explained:

Here, there was no space in the abdomen for insertion of equipment via laparoscopy or robot-assisted methods, hence we had to resort to traditional methods of surgery. With the combined effort of experts from the gastroenterology, gynaecology and anesthesiology teams, the extraction was done successfully.

A key surgeon in the case, Dr. Abishek Tewari, said that the patient was brought to their hospital after suffering stomach aches, breathing problems, and weight gain.

Immediate surgery was done to prevent further damage in the abdomen of the patient.

Dr. Tiwari said:

Fortunately, the tumour was benign and the patient had no co-morbidities, which enabled a faster recovery. Post-surgery her weight dropped to 56 kg.

Dr. Geeta Chadha, a senior consultant for Gynecology and Obstetrics at the hospital in New Delhi said that this is the first-ever case of a 50-kilogram tumor in the ovary.

She said the procedure was challenging.

Talking about the surgery, she said:

The surgery had to be done with utmost precision, keeping in mind seamless extraction of the tumour and simultaneously ensuring no harm is caused to the ovary or the gut. Post-surgery the patient showed tremendous recovery and is set to be discharged on Saturday evening.

Doctors said that because of the massive size of the tumor, they were scared as the ovary may have suffered a rupture, which is lethal.

The patient is currently recovering from surgery.