Doctors at the Thoothukudi Government Medical College and Hospital have given a pain-free life to a girl who was in excruciating pain due to stones in the gallbladder and bile duct.

When a 10-year-old girl from a village near Pudukottai complained of acute stomach pain a few months ago, her father took her to the Thoothukudi Government Medical College and Hospital. Investigations showed that she had jaundice and gallstones in gallbladder and the bile duct.

Paediatric surgeon T. Muthukumaran performed Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography to remove the stones. Moreover, common bile duct stent was placed to keep it open to enable free flow of bile from the liver to small intestine.

However, the girl brought to the hospital again after 20 days with a complaint of stomach pain. “We performed laparoscopic cholecystectomy, a minimum invasive procedure, to remove the gallbladder, which will not have any impact on the health of the girl. The removal of gallbladder of a 10-year-old girl in this procedure has been done in a government medical college hospital for the first time in southern Tamil Nadu,” said Dr. Muthukumaran who thanked other departments of the hospital for the effort.

Dr. Muthukumaran said the wrong food habits, consequent obesity, side-effects of some medicines and frequent radiological investigations might have caused the condition. The entire procedure was done free of cost.

Dean Ebenezer Joel, Resident Medical Officer Silas Jayamani, Medical Superintendent R. Padmanabhan, Gastroenterologist Sairaman, and Anaesthetist Balaram were present.

Published - July 21, 2026 09:48 pm IST