Rare 14 cm spinal cyst removal surgery offers hope to bedridden girl in Prayagraj

A senior neurosurgeon from Sangam City, Dr Prakash Khetan, has successfully performed a complex surgery, removing a 14 cm cyst from the longitudinal axis of the middle part (dorsal cord) of the spine of a bed-ridden 12-year-old girl.

The size of the cyst is significant, considering that the average length of the entire spinal cord of a 12-year-old is between 40 and 42 cm.

The highly delicate operation lasted approximately 11 hours. Remarkably, the girl’s spinal cord remained undamaged, and she is expected to fully recover and begin walking again within three months, according to the medical team.

The surgery might earn Dr Khetan a second entry in the prestigious Guinness World Records, as no one has reportedly claimed to have successfully removed a 14 cm cyst from the spine before. His first entry into the records was in 2011 when he removed 296 cysts from the brain of an eight-year-old girl.

The patient, a resident of a village under Jigna Police Station in Mirzapur district, initially complained of weakness in her hands and legs in February 2024.

“Within weeks, the problem worsened, and my daughter, a Class 3 student, lost her ability to walk. She had to drop out of school. As her condition deteriorated and she became bed-ridden, we consulted doctors in Prayagraj but saw no improvement. Eventually, we approached Dr Prakash Khetan in August,” shared Meenu Singh, the girl’s mother.

After conducting an MRI and other tests, surgery was performed on September 12. “Now, she can move her legs and turn on the bed,” said Kamlesh Singh, the girl’s father, who works at a general store in Mirzapur.

“Long-segment arachnoid cyst was compressing the girl’s dorsal spinal cord, causing sensory and motor spastic quadriparesis—a form of paralysis where the affected muscles fail to receive signals from the brain—and also impacted her bladder and bowel control.

During the surgery, the cyst was removed, and a 7-level laminoplasty was performed from D4 to D11 vertebral levels. A part of the vertebral bodies was removed to access the spinal cord, and after the cyst was excised, the vertebral column was reattached to prevent long-term complications such as scoliosis (sideways spine curvature) or kyphosis (excessive forward rounding of the upper back). The patient can now lift her limbs and feel bladder and bowel sensations. We are optimistic that she will start walking in three months,” explained Dr Khetan.

This marks the first time such a long arachnoid cyst from the longitudinal axis of the spinal cord has been successfully removed, along with a laminoplasty, said Dr Khetan.

PHOTO: Dr Prakash Khetan (File Photo).