Sivakumara Swamigalu, the 111-year-old seer of the famous Siddaganga Mutt in Tumakuru, on Saturday underwent an operation to treat his liver and bile duct infection that included a “bypass between the bile duct in the liver and small intestine.”
The seer, who was airlifted from Bengaluru to Dr Rela Institute and Medical Centre in Chromepet here, was “stable” through the four-hour-long operation and recovered from the effects of anaesthesia by Saturday evening.
The Swamigalu was operated upon by Dr Mohamed Rela, who had treated the seer a few years back.
“The operation involved exploration of his bile ducts, removal of multiple metal and plastic stents within the bile duct and bypass between the bile duct in the liver and small intestine.
“His Holiness tolerated the operation extremely well and was stable throughout the 4-hour procedure. He is now awake and fully recovered from the effects of anaesthesia. He is closely being observed in the Liver Intensive Care Unit,” Dr Mohamed Rela, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the institute, said in the medical bulletin issued on Saturday evening.
The seer was brought to Chennai for further management of his liver and bile duct related infection and had previously undergone several endoscopic procedures for this condition.
The mutt decided to shift the seer to Chennai since Dr Rela, who had treated him a few years back, felt that the advanced treatment cannot be done in Tumakuru.
A decision to airlift him was taken on Thursday by a team of doctors from Bengaluru and Chennai after he fell ill. The seer has undergone a procedure on Saturday wherein stents were implanted to his liver tube.
However, he is frequently developing an infection with symptoms of fever ever since he underwent stent implantation for the first time in 2016. Despite the age, the seer maintains a healthy lifestyle with no complaints of hypertension or diabetes but has issued only with his liver.