Miraculous Recovery: Army Jawan Revived After Being Declared Dead for 2 Hours at AIIMS Bhubaneswar | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: For nearly two hours, Subhakant Sahoo‘s family members had given him up for dead after his heart stopped beating following a cardiac arrest. But doctors at AIIMS Bhubaneswar were not ready to throw in the towel. On Wednesday, 24-year-old Sahoo, who lives with his parents and younger brother, is set to walk out of the hospital, having been handed a second life, over a month and a half since he underwent emergency treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, one which was nothing short of a miracle.
Around 2 am on Oct 1, Sahoo, an Army jawan from Ranpur in Nayagarh district, felt a sudden uneasiness. As he was feeling breathless, his parents took him to the local hospital. As his condition didn’t improve, he was brought to AIIMS Bhubaneswar around 7 am.
At AIIMS, he was immediately taken to the ICU, where he suffered a cardiac arrest two hours later. Doctors initially gave him cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in a bid to revive him, but the Armyman did not respond. Forty minutes had elapsed since his heart had stopped beating.
“Despite 40 minutes of conventional CPR, there was no cardiac activity. We were forced to take a decision — to either declare him dead or attempt the cutting-edge eCPR procedure. We took a chance and started the second one,” AIIMS Bhubaneswar executive director Ashutosh Biswas said on Monday.
Led by Dr Srikant Behera, an intensivist, the team initiated extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). By that time another 40 minutes had passed. Around 40 more minutes into the eCPR (where the CPR is performed while the ECMO machine is connected to the patient), Sahoo’s heart finally started beating, nearly two hours since it had stopped responding.
Over the next 30 hours, the heart function improved significantly, and Sahoo was weaned off ECMO after 96 hours. “The multidisciplinary team (comprising doctors Krishna Mohan Gulla, Sandip Kumar Panda, Siddharth Sathia, Sangeeta Sahoo and Manas R Panigrahi, besides healthcare providers from different units) addressed several other life-threatening complications, showcasing remarkable expertise, coordination, and dedication,” Biswas said.
Behera said eCPR, while technically challenging, represents a promising advancement in the treatment of cardiac arrests that were traditionally deemed fatal. “This success marks a milestone in Odisha’s medical history,” Behera said.
“Given that the patient was very young and had no other apparent medical issues, the team refused to give up and used the eCPR. For me, he has returned from certain death. The Armyman battled at the operation theatre and won this war,” he added.
Sahoo’s mother expressed gratitude to the team of doctors. “I cannot thank AIIMS Bhubaneswar enough for giving my son a second life. Their skill, compassion, and determination have worked a miracle for our family,” said Minati Sahoo.
Around 2 am on Oct 1, Sahoo, an Army jawan from Ranpur in Nayagarh district, felt a sudden uneasiness. As he was feeling breathless, his parents took him to the local hospital. As his condition didn’t improve, he was brought to AIIMS Bhubaneswar around 7 am.
At AIIMS, he was immediately taken to the ICU, where he suffered a cardiac arrest two hours later. Doctors initially gave him cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in a bid to revive him, but the Armyman did not respond. Forty minutes had elapsed since his heart had stopped beating.
“Despite 40 minutes of conventional CPR, there was no cardiac activity. We were forced to take a decision — to either declare him dead or attempt the cutting-edge eCPR procedure. We took a chance and started the second one,” AIIMS Bhubaneswar executive director Ashutosh Biswas said on Monday.
Led by Dr Srikant Behera, an intensivist, the team initiated extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). By that time another 40 minutes had passed. Around 40 more minutes into the eCPR (where the CPR is performed while the ECMO machine is connected to the patient), Sahoo’s heart finally started beating, nearly two hours since it had stopped responding.
Over the next 30 hours, the heart function improved significantly, and Sahoo was weaned off ECMO after 96 hours. “The multidisciplinary team (comprising doctors Krishna Mohan Gulla, Sandip Kumar Panda, Siddharth Sathia, Sangeeta Sahoo and Manas R Panigrahi, besides healthcare providers from different units) addressed several other life-threatening complications, showcasing remarkable expertise, coordination, and dedication,” Biswas said.
Behera said eCPR, while technically challenging, represents a promising advancement in the treatment of cardiac arrests that were traditionally deemed fatal. “This success marks a milestone in Odisha’s medical history,” Behera said.
“Given that the patient was very young and had no other apparent medical issues, the team refused to give up and used the eCPR. For me, he has returned from certain death. The Armyman battled at the operation theatre and won this war,” he added.
Sahoo’s mother expressed gratitude to the team of doctors. “I cannot thank AIIMS Bhubaneswar enough for giving my son a second life. Their skill, compassion, and determination have worked a miracle for our family,” said Minati Sahoo.
