65-year-old retired teacher Tuncer Poşluk, who lives in Istanbul and could not be treated due to the large mass in his coccyx, found healing in SEAH. As a result of the examinations performed here, the ‘Hemicorperectomy’ operation, which is a surgery to separate the tumor and the organs surrounded by the tumor from the body, was performed in order to completely save the patient. Poşluk’s body from the waist down was cut off, along with the tumor and the organs surrounding the tumor. After a difficult surgery that lasted approximately 13 hours, Poşluk was taken to the service after a 40-day intensive care period, and his treatment continues in the orthopedics department.
Poşluk, which was recorded as the 8th case worldwide and a unique case in Turkey, will now continue his life without half of his body. Mustafa Erkan İnanmaz and Assoc. Prof. from the Department of Orthopedics helped save Poşluk from the brink of death. Dr. Fevzi Sağlam, Prof. from the Department of General Surgery. Dr. Fatih Altıntoprak and Assoc. Dr. Necattin Fırat, Assoc. Prof. from the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery. Dr. Hakan Saçlı, Assoc. Prof. from the Department of Urology. Dr. Hacı İbrahim Çimen, Prof. from the Department of Anesthesia and Reanimation. Dr. Ali Fuat Erdem, Assoc. Dr. Onur Balaban and Assoc. Dr. Havva Kocayiğit played a big role.
“WE REMOVED 45 PERCENT OF THE PATIENT’S BODY IN THE SURGERY THAT LASTED 13 HOURS”
Assoc. Prof. in the Department of Orthopedics stated that the patient applied with a diagnosis of cancer originating from the coccyx. Dr. Fevzi Sağlam said, “Of course, this cancer is not only in the coccyx; It has now affected the patient’s pelvis, bladder, all of his hip muscles, and part of his intestines. It completely involved the important arteries feeding the foot. But despite this unlucky situation, the patient was lucky that this cancer was limited only to this region and did not spread to any other organ, which is most important for us when planning the treatment. The patient actually applied to both private and public hospitals in many large centers and many large provinces, but it was diagnosed that no surgical treatment could be performed due to the size of the mass and the organs it covered. After the patient came to us, we performed the necessary examinations and imaging again. We re-evaluated the patient at our Orthopedic Oncology Council. Frankly, we thought a lot about how we could treat this patient and save him from this cancer.
Then, we decided to perform the surgery on the patient, which we call ‘Hemicorperectomy’, which is one of the very rare surgeries performed around the world, by cutting off the entire area below the waist and separating the tumor along with the tumor organs. Of course, this is a difficult surgery, one that can actually cost the patient his life during the surgery. We discussed all of these with the family and the patient many times because it is a very rare surgery. But we stated that even if it went well, we thought our patient would recover from this cancer. The patient and his family gave approval for this surgery after thinking for a while. This is a team work and in this team; We actually rehearsed this surgery with our orthopedist, coating surgeon, urologist, anesthesia, operating room nurses and all our operating room staff. The surgery process took approximately 13 hours. Our patient weighed 55 kilos before the surgery. When we cut off the mass from the waist down, he lost a body part weighing approximately 25 kilos. “The patient’s 30 kilogram body remains, so we have removed 45 percent of it,” he said.
“WHEN OUR PATIENT CAME TO US, HE WAS NOT A PATIENT WHO WAS ALREADY WALKING”
Stating that the patient could not walk, Sağlam said, “There was an intensive care period of approximately 40 days after the surgery. Our patient experienced this process; He survived the anesthesia very well, with really good patient monitoring and very good management. It has been approximately 45 days since we operated on our patient and we are following him up in our orthopedic service. Frankly, in some cancers, in selected cases, depending on the location of involvement, this surgery may be a small hope for patients who have lost hope or who are told that surgery cannot be performed. I think we can give them a little hope with this major surgery. When our patient came to us, he was not able to walk.
He was brought in on a stretcher again. He was in very severe pain. Even without this surgery, the patient may or may not be able to survive for a few months, that is, he would lose his life due to this disease. We separated this cancerous tissue from the healthy body of a patient who could not walk, by amputating the limb that was a burden on him, that is, from the waist down, starting from the spine. Now the patient has a bag for the intestine, which we call colostomy, and a bag for urine, which we call urostomy. However, he can use his upper extremities and arms easily. Our patient will be able to survive on his own. “We would like to thank our hospital’s Chief Physician and our Provincial Health Directorate for always supporting us,” he said.