ASICON, the 76th Annual Conference of Association of Surgeons of India (ASI), is being held in Mysuru for the first time from Dec.14 to 18. To mark the occasion, here we publish a write-up on the ‘Surgical Practice in Mysore’ since the time of Prof. J.F. Robinson by Dr. C.G. Narasimhan, Emeritus Surgeon, Kamakshi Hospital, Mysuru. —Ed
by Dr. C.G. Narasimhan
“In 1970 it was Dr. C.G. Narasimhan, a freshly passed Post-Graduate from Mysore Medical College (MMC) who started surgical practice in a full-fledged way for the first time in Mysore by establishing a surgical centre on Dhanvantri Road and operating at the Raman Nursing Home, which was the second nursing home to come up in the city. With bare minimum facilities and in the absence of scanning equipment like Ultrasound and the CT, major surgeries like abdomino perineal resections and pancreatic surgeries were successfully undertaken in this institution.”
Tracing surgical practice in Mysore, a princely town of yesteryears to the present fast growing semi-metro city is very nostalgic and interesting and I have been a part of this evolution. Practice of surgery in Mysore could be discussed in two parts — one ranging between 1930s and 1960 and another from 1960s to the present era.
While during the former it was confined to the monumental Krishna Rajendra Hospital (KRH) and Holdsworth Memorial Hospital (Mission Hospital), the latter saw the emergence of private surgeons and private hospitals. KRH was attached to the University Medical College as called then, and as history suggests the first qualified surgeon was Dr. J.F. Robinson, FRCS (Edin), between 1930 and 1942. He started the Surgery Department in the hospital. He was also the Principal of the Medical College for some time. He was succeeded by Rajavaidya Praveena Dr. C. Krishnaswamy Rao, who in turn handed over to Dr. S. Puttanna, FRCS.
General surgeons of those days in the true sense of the term were masters of all arts, operating on all cases regardless of the specialties like ENT, bone and joint surgery, burr hole and even Ob, Gynaec. It may be of interest to the present generation to note that as MBBS graduates they were doing lump excisions, hernia repair, haemorrhoidectomy and even appendicectomies.
The Chair of the Head of Department of Surgery in KRH was first occupied by Shastra Vaidya Praveena Dr. S. Subba Rao. Dr. T. Seshachalam, whose name is mentioned in the Bailey & Love text book as the founder of the accessory appendicular artery was the next to occupy the Chair of HoD. Incidentally, he was trained by Dr. Robinson. Dr. Seshachalam was succeeded by Dr. B.N. Balakrishna Rao, FRCS and later by Lt. Col.R. Nagendran, FRCS. The former went to Gwalior Medical College and later became the HoD of Surgery, AIMS, New Delhi.
Prof. M. Authikesavalu, FRCS, became the HoD in late 40s and continued till 1955.Though leonine in his appearance, he was an extremely kind person and a very good teacher. Another FRCS Dr.K. Krishnamurthy was the RMO of KRH at that time. When Dr. Authikesavalu was transferred to Bangalore, Dr. A.K. Gopalarajan (AKG), FRCS, took over as the HoD of Surgery. He was also a very good teacher and very popular among the patients. He held his post till 1964 and our batch was trained under him. Dr. AKG is remembered even today in Mysuru after more than 50 years. K. R. Hospital used to attract patients from the neighbouring districts of Mandya, Hassan and Coorg. The operative procedures were mainly related to peptic ulceration, thyroid problems, Buerger’s disease apart from some traumatic cases here and there.
Wesleyen Mission started its first Hospital in Mysore called Holdsworth Memorial Hospital (HMH), commonly known as the Mission Hospital. It was located in the Mandi Mohalla area of Mysore catering mainly to Muslim and Christian population. Later the hospital gained popularity among the other sections of the society and became one of the landmark hospitals of the city. Surgeon of great eminence Dr. Frank I. Tovey was the chief surgeon of this hospital from early 50s to late 60s. He worked extensively on peptic ulcers in South Indian population. Several of his original work appeared in the British Journal of Surgery and in other journals. Dr. Tovey also did a lot of reconstructive surgery in leprosy patients of T. Narasipur area of Mysuru district. HMH attained glorious heights during Dr. Tovey’s period. He was later awarded the prestigious OBE from the Queen of UK. Dr. John D. Eswaraiah, who succeeded Dr. Tovey, served for the next two decades. Now Dr. Ruebin Prakash has been ably managing the hospital as its Chief Surgeon.
Private Nursing Homes were far and few those days before 1960s.One Dr. D.R. Prasad and his wife Dr. Anandi Bai started perhaps the first full-fledged nursing home in Mysore near the Central Police Station in mid- 40s. Though they did not have a regular surgeon operating there, one Dr. Venugopal from Madras, who was also an honorary surgeon in K.R. Hospital, used to operate cases from 1962 to 1967.After a period of lull, this institution has flourished very well with Dr. Mahesh Kumar, MS, FRCS, as its chief surgeon under a new name Chitra’s Hospital. They have also achieved national accreditation.
Southern Railways found it suitable to start their divisional hospital in Mysore in 1960 with Dr. O.J. Ram as the surgeon and CMO. Presently senior surgeon Dr. G.S. Ramachandra has given an impetus to the surgical department.
The Department of Surgery in KRH by now saw the ever active and ebullient surgeon Dr. R.H.N. Shenoi. Though he stayed in Mysore for a short time he left an indelible mark among the students and colleagues by his teaching and innovative surgeries. Dr. H. Nanjarajaiah, Dr.H.V. Jeevandhara Kumar and Dr.Y.B. Hegde occupied the chair in succession till the late 1990s.
In 1970, it was Dr. C.G. Narasimhan, a freshly passed Post-Graduate from Mysore Medical College who started surgical practice in a full-fledged way for the first time in Mysore by establishing a surgical centre on Dhanvantri road and operating at the Raman Nursing Home which was the second nursing home to come up in the city. With bare minimum facilities and in the absence of scanning equipments like Ultrasound and the CT, major surgeries like abdomino perineal resections and pancreatic surgeries were successfully undertaken in this institution.
Not until around 1973-74 some more nursing homes and private hospitals came up in Mysore. Bantwal Sulochana Madhav Shenoi Trust started Kamakshi Hospital in 1973 followed by Ravi Nursing Home and Kiran Nursing Home in 1974. Routine surgeries were carried out in these institutions.
Upper GI Endoscopy was started for the first time in Mysore in early 80s in Kamakshi Hospital. It was at this point of time two big private hospitals were started. B.M. Hospital was started in memory of his father by Dr. C.B.Murthy, who was a professor of surgery in KRH. It shot into prominence particularly after the fire mishap of the TV serial ‘Sword of Tipu Sultan.’ Apart from general surgery, traumatic and emergency surgery developed considerably in this hospital. The other big hospital was attached to a new JSS Medical College started around 1982-83. Dr.S.B. Vasanth Kumar, Dr.G. Siddesh and Dr.C.P. Madhu started their surgical career as staff of this hospital. Within a short period of time the hospital has grown in size and efficiency. Cardiac procedures are being done in this institution.
Onco surgery was the next to develop in Mysore. Bharath Cancer Hospital was started in the Hebbal area of Mysore by Dr.B.S. Ajai Kumar, a radiation oncologist trained in the US in the year 1991. Dr. Anil Thomas, who was trained at the Kidwai Institute of Oncology, Bangalore, operated for more than a decade before starting his own hospital. Two of our city surgeons Dr. T.V. Ramesh and Dr.K. Subramanya excelled in the treatment of haemorrhoids and anal problems establishing their own units.
Laparoscopic surgery in Mysore was started by Dr. C.G. Narasimhan and by Dr. G. Siddesh in the mid 90s. But the credit of developing it further should go to Dr. Victor Menezes who started his surgical practice as a laparoscopic surgeon. He has his own unit devoted only to laparoscopic procedures.
The scene of medical practice in the city thoroughly changed with the corporate hospitals coming in to Mysore. Vikram Hospital was the first one to come in 2002.Open heart, vascular, thoracic and emergency surgeries are routinely done here. With the advent of Apollo, Columbia Asia and recently Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals, the health delivery system has improved to a large extent.
An exhaustive coverage of evolution of surgery needs the mention of some of the lady surgeons who have chosen to practice in Mysore. Dr. Avadhani K. Geetha tops the list. She is perhaps the first lady to become the Head of a unit and also become the HoD of surgery in KRH. Dr. Lavanya Shenoi is the other lady surgeon practicing in Mysore. There are some more of them including Dr.Preethi, who is an associate professor in JSS Medical College.
Development of super specialties was delayed till early 90s when Dr. M.S. Bhaskar was the first Neuro-surgeon and Urologists Dr. K.M. Madappa, Dr. Prakash Prabhu and Dr. M.S. Ranganath arrived on the scene. Plastic and reconstructive surgeries also took shape with Dr. B.N. Jayaram, Dr. Pundalika Herle and Dr.H.V.Sathish started operating in BM, JSS and other hospitals. Of late, a few paediatric surgeons have chosen Mysuru for their practice. With a boom of several new hospitals and the arrival of young surgeons, surgical care is bound to improve in rendering quality treatment to the needy.
Lastly about the Surgical Society of Mysore — It was started in the year 1990 by Dr. D.R. Shekar, a Plastic Surgeon who is settled now in Bengaluru, Dr. C.G. Narasimhan and Dr. R. Srinath who is now retired. For the first time, Mysore hosted the 12th annual conference of KSC/ASI in 1994.It was a great success. Later a conference of the International College of Surgeons was held in 1999. Dr. S. B. Vasanth Kumar was the Vice-President of ICS Indian section for 3 years in succession. In 2003, Mysore hosted the State Conference for the second time. Two of the members of Mysore chapter Dr. C.G.Narasimhan and Dr.G. Siddesh have donned the Chairmanship of the State Chapter in 2004 and 2014 respectively. It is a matter of immense satisfaction that the Mysore chapter has instituted two awards in the Annual State Conference for the Best PG Paper Presentation and for the Best Poster Presentation.
Innovations in the field of surgery is a never-ending phenomena. We have had a challenging journey from open incisions to robotic surgery. Viewing tubular structures in the body has made a tremendous stride including ‘capsule endoscopy.’ Laparoscopic bariatric surgery has offered a great relief for obese patients. I earnestly hope that the younger colleagues in the field of surgery will carry the torch forward.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Artices / December 15th, 2016