Bhubaneswar: AIIMS Doctors Save Army Jawan’s Life After His Heart Stopped for 90 Minutes

Bhubaneswar: A team of experts of AIIMS Bhubaneswar successfully saved life of a 24-year-old army jawan after his heart h stopped beating for nearly 90 minutes, using a special resuscitation procedure — eCPR, marking a milestone in Odisha’s medical history, doctors said on Monday.

life-saving intervention, known as Extracorporeal Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (eCPR) procedure, helped revive young man even after his heart h stopped beating for nearly 1.5 hours, Dr Ashutosh Biswas of AIIMS Bhubaneswar told reporters.

patient, identified as Subhakant Sahu, having no past record of cardiac ailments, came to AIIMS Bhubaneswar in a critical condition on October 1.

Shortly after his arrival, he suffered a cardiac arrest. Despite 40 minutes of conventional CPR, re was no cardiac activity. team faced a critical decision — wher to declare him de or attempt a cutting-edge procedure.

Biswas said medical team eventually decided to proceed with eCPR.

Led by Dr Srikant Behera, Intensivist and ult ECMO specialist, team initiated Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), following which patient’s heart began to beat again after around 90 minutes, though with an irregular rhythm.

"Over next 30 hours, heart function improved significantly, and patient was successfully weaned off ECMO after 96 hours," Biswas said.

“ECMO is an extracorporeal technique of providing cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide equate amount of gas exchange or perfusion to sustain life. It can support and perform functions of lungs and heart, individually and toger,” Behera explained.

eCPR, while technically challenging, represents a promising vancement in treatment of cardiac arrests tritionally deemed fatal, he said.

“This success marks a milestone in Odisha’s medical history," Behera ded.

Though awareness and usage of ECPR are increasing around world and significant vancements have taken place, it was first such case in Odisha, doctors said.

patient is fully conscious, and his blood pressure and oxygen saturation are within normal range, y said.

Sahu’s mor Minati expressed gratitude to doctors for saving his life.

"I cannot thank AIIMS Bhubaneswar and treating doctors enough for giving my son a second chance in life," she said. 

With PTI Inputs