Hyderabad unit of Apollo Hospitals has introduced a non-interventional procedure called TIPS (Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt) for treating complications arising out of scarring of the liver (cirrhosis) and increased blood pressures to the liver (portal hypertension). These problems, mainly found in patients suffering from hepatitis infections and alcoholic liver diseases, normally call for urgent medical treatment and multiple medical interventions or surgery.

The TIPS procedure introduced by the Apollo can now treat the refractory ascites (large amounts of abdominal fluid) and variceal bleeding (uncontrolled bleeding from the oesophagus or stomach) more effectively than ever, claim the hospital authorities.

They are of the opinion that the procedure (new to India though it has been used in the developed countries for more than a decade) can be of extreme use in India due to the growing rates of hepatitis B and C infections reported here.

The TIPS procedure was performed for the first time in the hospital during a live workshop on Wednesday by a team of doctors headed by Dr Ziw J Haskel, an authority on the subject.

Explaining the procedure to the media persons Dr Haskel said that TIPS is a non-surgical technique for creating a pressure-lowering channel inside the liver.

"Using a moving X-ray camera (fluoroscopy), the interventional radiologist places a thin tube (catheter) through a small puncture in the skin of the neck to gain access to the liver. The catheter is then guided to the blocked blood vessels in the liver. Using X-ray guidance, a tunnel (the shunt) is created within the liver through which the blocked blood can flow. The tunnel is held open by the insertion of a small metallic cylinder, called a stent, or implantation of a stent-graft. This allows blood to flow directly from the portal vein into the central venous circulation, thereby by lowering the blood pressure within the liver and improving the patients clinical condition", he explained.

According to Dr Haskel, the TIPS became so successful after the introduction of Gore Viatorr TIPS Endoprosthesis, the only commercially marketed stent-grafts for the TIPS application.

The intervention, which will be performed at Apollo Hospitals henceforth, will cost about Rs 1.7 lakh. This includes the cost of the stent. Hospital authorities said that the cost will come down considerably with the popularisation of the procedure.