Apollo Liver Surgery Unit (ALSU)

Deals with complex gastrointestinal surgery. Surgical Gastroenterology was coming in to its own in various teaching hospitals all over India in the late eighties. The first to be established in North India was the Unit of Gastrointestinal Surgery in All India Institute of Medical Sciences under Professor S. Nundy in 1985. This unit has its roots from this institution.

This unit now has an outstanding reputation for all aspects of liver surgery. Complex liver resection can be carried with a mortality and morbidity comparable to the best centers in the world. There is also can an active interventional radiology setup that deals with chemoembolization, radiofrequency ablation and percutaneous alcohol injection into tumour tissue. This centre is very active in liver transplantation and is equipped for both cadaveric and living related transplant. It has to its credit first successful reduced liver transplant from an adult cadaveric liver to a paediatric recipient. Pancreatic surgery is also carried out in great numbers and possibly we have one of the largest series of pancreaticoduodenectomy operation for cancers of the periampullary region. The unit has treated patients from all over India as well as patients from Middle East, Africa and South East Asia. Apart from malignancies this unit has considerable skills in dealing with surgical management of all aspects of pancreatitis. Its faculty consists of nationally and internationally known consultants. This unit has a reputation for shunt surgery for patients who have bled from varices. In situations where the liver is not diseased, then shunt surgery is quite an appropriate form of treatment. Often because of blockage of hepatic veins mesocaval shunts can reverse the damage to liver. This unit is a referral centre for patients who have been operated elsewhere and has developed a complication. One such common condition is intestinal fistula and these have been managed very successfully here. A paper from our unit was awarded the best paper in one of the recent Indian Society of Gastroenterology meetings. The unit has a very active Stoma Clinic, which deals with wound care in intestinal fistulae. Colorectal cancer is another active area of our unit and there is a major emphasis on sphincter saving surgery either using staplers or by intersphincteric resection. Ulcerative colitis generally can be treated by medicine but surgery has a major role in certain situation. The entire diseased colon is removed and the end of small intestine folded on itself and joined to create a pouch, which is then joined to the anus so that the patient can pass stool normally. The unit has skilled consultants who are backed by a huge team of experienced registrars, theatre personnel and equipment such as ultrasonic aspirator, argon beam coagulator and thromboelastograph which all helps in conducting major surgery. The Unit of Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver transplantation has a proven track record of dealing with complex gastrointestinal cases and is at the forefront of clinical medicine and liver surgery in India. Via: www.transplantliverindia.com