Manasi (name changed), a teenager born with two unconnected uterus and without a cervix and vagina. She is born with a birth defect called – uterus didelphys with agenesis of cervix and vagina, which has an occurrence rate of around 0.1 per cent.
Doctors at Sassoon hospital, Pune, claim they have received such a case for the first time. The hospital has planned a surgery in two phases. While the first phase of surgery has been already been performed a fortnight ago, the second phase of the surgery is scheduled for the third week of July.
While the plastic surgeons grafted skin from her thigh, the Gynecologists used it to create a vagina during the first operation. In the second operation, the reconstructed cervix and vagina would be joined to the uterus. As both the uterus is not connected, the doctors would join both the uterus in the second surgery.
Dr Ramesh Bhosale, Head of the Gynecology Department of Sassoon’s BJ Medical College, who is leading the team for the operation, said, “Once the surgery is done, she will start her first menstrual cycle. We had created vagina between bladder and rectum. There can be complications like her bladder can get injured or her rectum might get open. Though there are all these complications, this is a safe surgery. She might be able to conceive.”
Manasi has developed blood clots in her uterine cavity as she did not get menses. Doctors said that had she not been operated there could have been uterine rupture which could have been fatal for her life.
“I used have cyclical abdominal pain and I could not tolerate that pain. When the pain became intense we came to the Sassoon hospital,” said Manasi.
When asked about the surgical complications and risks involved in such surgeries, Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, Director of Galaxy Care Hospital, Pune, said, “It is quite a difficult surgery, but it is safe surgery for the patient. There are many subtypes when it comes to vaginal anomaly and we treat such rare cases safely.”