Hinduja Hospital Pioneers Osmotic Tissue Expander

EHM News Bureau

Mumbai's PD Hinduja Hospital is the first in India to operate on a patient using osmotic tissue expander.

The patient was operated by Dr Bimal Mody, Consultant Plastic Surgeon, who was guided by Germany-based plastic surgeon Dr Holger Hofheinz, who is considered a pioneer of this technique.

"The osmotic tissue expander is an approved tissue expansion without restrictions. It is therefore useful in mastectomy (primary and secondary breast reconstruction), defect coverage (scars, skin tumours), breast anomalies, breast augmentation, treatment of anophthalmos (eye socket expander) and many more," says Dr Mody.

Osmotic tissue expander overcomes some of the disadvantages of the original variety by small incision at the time of introduction. For instance, a 43 ml initial volume expander has a initial projection of 2.5 cms and diameter of five cms which expandes to 450 ml with a projection of six cms and diameter of 11 cms.

Osmosis expanders for tissue expansion are stable, mainly dry devices, made of a cross linked, physiologically well-tolerated hydrogel (co-polymer based on methylmethacrylate and N-vinylpyrrolidone). This material is currently used in contact lenses.

"Different from conventional expanders, the osmotic expander is extremely small and easy to use. The product can be implanted with a very small incision and does not require subsequent injections for filling," says Dr Mody.