Chandigarh, Chandigarh, India, Wednesday, October 11, 2006 ::
Dr Pankaj Garg, a Senior Consultant in Department of Surgery, Fortis Super Specialty Hospital, Mohali, Chandigarh has done proud to Chandigarh by performing a new method of treating Anal Fistula for the first time in South Asia. This method known as Anal Fistula Plug(AFP) procedure has revolutionized the treatment of Anal Fistula. The Anal Fistula Plug has already been approved for clinical use by the highest standard enforcing authority of America, i.e., US FDA.

Anal Fistula is a perplexing disease affecting lakhs of people all over the world. It has afflicted mankind for centuries but till date there had been no satisfactory treatment available.

Conventionally Surgery – Fistulutomy / Fistulectomy has been the mainstay of treatment. In this surgery, the fistula tract is laid open by cutting out the whole tract with knife. This leads to a large wound from the anal opening to the buttock . Understandably this leaves the patient with lot of pain in the post operative period. The patient needs hospitalization for 4 to 8 days and requires dressings for this wound for 4 to 6 weeks .The patient obviously is off the work for few weeks. In spite of all these difficulties, this surgery is associated with a high recurrence rate. Other known methods such as seton treatment and fibrin glue method have also been not widely accepted due to high recurrence rates.

In high fistula (the fistulae going above the Rectal sling), the treatment is even more complex. It requires 3 operations in a staged manner. In the first stage, the anal opening is made in the abdomen wall called Diverting Colostomy (the fecal matter comes through an artificial intestinal opening created on abdomen wall with a pouch fitted over it). In the second operation, the fistula is operated upon by cutting it out in the same manner as described above. In the third operation, the Colostomy is closed. The whole procedure takes about few months time. In spite of all this, this operation had high recurrence rates and had the inherent risk of the most dreaded complication- Bowel Incontinence (loss of control over bowel movements). So treating high fistula has been a nightmare for both surgeons and the suffering patients alike.

Now this new method, known as Anal Fistula Plug (AFP) has dramatically changed the way we can treat this complex disease. This treatment requires placement and fixing of the plug in anal fistula by a special technique. The plug is made of highly sophisticated absorbable material which provides the scaffold over which body’s collagen gets deposited and closes the fistula.

Comparative studies have shown this method to be very effective. The best aspect of this method is that it involves no cutting at all. So there is no post operative wound and pain. Moreover the patient can go back to work the same day. In lots of patients, AFP plug can also be inserted under local anesthesia making it a wonderful Day-care procedure for treating anal fistula. Most important, this method can be used successfully to treat High Fistula. There is no need for any Colostomy. The risk of Bowel Incontinence is also not there at all. Compared to the staged operations where patient needs multiple hospitalizations for weeks, in this method the patient hardly needs hospitalization for 24 hours and goes back to work the next day. So for high Fistula, AFP method is a ‘boon sent directly from heaven’.Dr Pankaj Garg has become the pioneer by doing this procedure for the first time not only in India, but in entire South Asia. He has done this at a time when this procedure has not been adopted in most of the developed countries of Asia including China. The initiative and lead taken by Dr Garg will definitely help to create awareness about this procedure in India and Asia so that lakhs of people suffering from this agonizing disease can get rid of their ‘curse’. Dr Pankaj Garg, who did his masters from the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi is a well known laparoscopic Surgeon of the region and working as a Senior Consultant in Department of Surgery, Fortis Super Specialty Hospital, Mohali. In May 2005, Dr Garg was the first doctor in the region to be given the membership of world’s most renowned society of laparoscopic surgeons- SAGES (Society of American Gastro-intestinal Endoscopic Surgeons).Dr Pankaj Garg is also given the credit of founding World Piles Day which is celebrated all over the world on November 20 every year.Dr Garg is the force behind popularizing Stapler Technique for treating piles. Dr Garg has treated maximum number of piles patients by this technique in the whole region. Stapler technique is a new method of treating piles which does not involve any wound or cut and is totally painless and also has lowest recurrence rates. Dr Garg was awarded an International award in March this year in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi for his contribution in the field of Proctology. Dr Garg is also the founder President of ABCDE — Association for Breast Cancer Death Eradication. ABCDE is creating awareness about breast cancer symptoms and teaching Breast self examination to ladies at a mass level so that breast cancer can be diagnosed in early stage. Hence ABCDE aims to eradicate the deaths caused by breast cancer.

For further information, please contact:
Dr. Pankaj Garg
MBBS (AIIMS), MS(AIIMS),
MIHF(USA), MELSA(HONGKONG),
Consultant General Surgeon
drgargpankaj@yahoo.com
+919815288741

Editorial Contact :

QuikRelations
Chandigarh
+91-98140-08919
pr@quikgroupindia.com


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