16.7 kg tumour ‘hanging like a gunny bag’ removed from man’s back

A massive tumour weighing 16.7 kgs and “hanging like a gunny bag” on the back of a 27-year-old man has successfully been removed in a 10-hour lasting complex surgery.

The man hailing from the Pacific Islands has been carrying the non-cancerous tumour sized 58×50 cms since 2008, said the doctors at the Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI), Gurugram.

“Giant neurofibroma is a type of peripheral nerve tumour that forms soft bumps on or under the skin which can grow to very large size gradually over a longer period,” said Niranjan Naik, Senior Director, Surgical Oncology, FMRI.

Genetic abnormalities lead to such tumours, “which can hamper the quality of life of the patient by restricting mobility, causing cosmetic disfigurement, discomfort or pain and occasionally heavy bleeding due to bed sore formation”, the doctor said.

Due to the high risk associated with the tumour’s size and complexity of the case, the young patient was denied surgery at several hospitals in different countries.

Niranjan explained that “these tumours are very vascular in nature, containing large pools of blood in most of the areas.” Thus, it can raise a “high risk of uncontrollable bleeding” during the surgery.

To mitigate this risk, the team initiated the treatment with two procedures that blocked 11 significant blood vessels.

Niranjan said that the tumour had multiple large arterial and venous channels, and covered the entire back of the patient, “exposing approximately 18 per cent of the body surface as a raw area”.

To cover this area post-surgery, the doctors used the skin graft from the tumour, as it was non-cancerous, rather than from both thighs.

“This innovative approach allowed for the successful coverage of the patient’s entire back,” in a procedure that lasted 10 hours.

“The patient was discharged in just four days in a stable condition,” the doctors said, adding that the “tumour was non-cancerous, the patient is disease free now and will have a good quality long-term survival.”