Top 8 Amazing Surgical Procedures

• Surgeries are generally considered the last resort for patients who do not get relief from the symptoms through non-invasive interventions.
• Millions of surgeries are performed worldwide to save life or improve quality of life.
• However, some surgeries are so weird that it takes some time to believe if the surgeries are performed or if it is just another sci-fi drama.

Below is the list of eight amazing and weird surgeries, which are an excellent illustration of what the collaboration of advanced technology and human skills can achieve.

Weird but amazing surgical procedures

1. Osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis: This surgery is termed “tooth-in-eye” surgery. It involves restoring the eyesight of the patient with the help of a tooth. The surgery is performed in patients where the cause of blindness is irreversible damage to the cornea and other methods of eyesight restoration fail. In this procedure, the premolar or canine tooth of the patient is obtained. The surgeon then makes a hole in the tooth to insert a lens. The structure is then implanted into the cheek for growing the new blood vessels. It is then removed and implanted in the patient’s damaged eye, thereby restoring the vision.
2. Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy: This surgery treats patients with severe hyperhidrosis. In this procedure, the surgeon dissects the sympathetic nerve trunk. The side effect of this surgery is interesting. The person cannot blush after undergoing this surgery. Thus, this surgery is also performed in patients with excessive blushing. If only one side of the body is involved, the person has half of his body blushed. Thus, surgery is usually performed on both sides of the body.
3. Heterotopic heart transplant: A heterotopic heart transplant may be performed in patients with an increased risk of heart failure due to pulmonary hypertension. This procedure is also known as “piggyback” heart transplantation. The damaged heart is removed in normal heart transplant surgery, and a new heart is placed. However, in this unique surgery, the healthy heart was placed on the right side of the body without removing the damaged heart. As a result, blood flow was from the diseased heart to a healthy heart for pumping.
4. Lindbergh Operation: It was a surgery done to remove the gall bladder. So what is special about this surgery? It was the first surgery in medical history that was completely performed by the robotic procedure, and interestingly the doctor on remote through telecommunication controlled the robots during surgery. The surgery lasted for 45 minutes .A high-speed fibre-optic service was implemented during the procedure for smooth transmission of instructions.
5. Hemicorporectomy: This surgery involves the removal of the lower portion of the body from below the pelvis. The surgeon, during this surgery, removes the anus, rectum, sex organs, scrotum, pelvic bones, urinary system, and legs. It is also known as translumbar amputation. It is extensively mutilating surgery and is performed in cases when the patients suffer from severe trauma, tumours, and osteomyelitis. The surgery is done in two steps. In the first step, the process of waste removal is stopped. In the second step, the amputation is done. However, in some cases, the complete procedure may be done in a single step.
6. Hemispherectomy: It is performed in patients suffering from neurological disorders, such as seizures, that affect only one side of the brain. The other diseases in which this surgery is indicated are perinatal stroke, hemimegalencephaly, Rasmussen’s encephalitis, and Sturge-Weber-Dimitri disease. In this surgery, the doctor partially or completely removes the affected hemisphere of the brain. The doctor may also disconnect the affected hemisphere. The surgery is long and may require 12 hours to complete. Further, the patients after this procedure may experience varying degrees of paralysis on that side of the body, which is controlled by the removed hemisphere.
7. Surgery in Utero: This surgery was performed on the fetus in a woman who was 22 weeks pregnant. The baby had a wrapping of amniotic bands around the ankles, blocking the blood supply to the lower legs. Although, the surgeons wait for 28 weeks of pregnancy before they perform any surgery on the fetus. However, in this case, a further delay may result in the loss of both legs. A 2 mm operating telescope was inserted in the womb, and an electric current and laser were used to cut the amniotic band.
8. Rotationplasty: This surgery involves using the ankles as a knee joint. The surgeon removes the upper tibia, knee and the bottom of the femur. The removed part, after rotation to 180 degrees, is attached to the thigh. The ankle of the rotated foot functions as a knee after the patient wears an artificial limb or prosthesis. The surgery is usually performed in children with malignant tumours, as in the case of Ewing sarcoma or osteosarcoma, which does not respond to treatment and requires amputation.

Reference

1. Five weird and wonderful surgical procedures. Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314009
2. Top 10 Bizarre Surgical Procedures. Available at: https://listverse.com/2007/09/25/top-10-bizarre-surgical-procedures/
3. Six of History’s More Unusual Surgical Miracles. Available at: https://www.newsweek.com/six-historys-more-unusual-surgical-miracles-90541