Perform Complex Uterine Reconstruction, Avoiding Hysterectomy in a Rare and Complex Case
PUNE: Doctors at Sahyadri Hospitals’ MomStory have successfully treated a 36-year-old woman from Cameroon, saving her uterus in a rare and complex surgery that offers her hope of becoming a mother in the future.
A teacher from Cameroon, Ms. Gladys Morielle Nguedia Ndadem, was facing a life-threatening condition following a miscarriage in her second trimester earlier this year. After the miscarriage, a part of the placenta remained inside the uterus. This condition is called retained placenta, and it caused her to bleed heavily, also known as post-abortion haemorrhage. She also had a very complicated 1st pregnancy where she had an incomplete abortion in 16 weeks, due to endometriosis and pelvic inflammation.
According to the doctors, the complications from her first pregnancy could have led to the severe issues in her second pregnancy. Back in Cameroon, her condition had caused severe bleeding, shock, and repeated hospitalizations where she underwent 18 blood transfusions over time. She was also advised hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) by the doctors as the only option to save her life.
But Ms. Gladys Morielle Nguedia Ndadem, who has never had children, refused to give up on her dream of becoming a mother. Desperate for an alternative that could preserve her fertility, she travelled to India and consulted Dr. Supriya Puranik, Director of Obstetrics-Gynecology and IVF at Sahyadri Hospitals MomStory, Shivajinagar, Pune, who is known for handling complex gynaecological cases.
Dr. Puranik and her multidisciplinary team took on the challenge. On April 19, 2025, a carefully planned surgery was performed. The procedure included:
- Laparotomy with adhesiolysis to address internal scarring.
- Bilateral internal iliac and uterine artery ligation to minimize bleeding risk.
- Hysterectomy is performed to remove the infected, necrotic placental tissue.
- Myomectomy to remove multiple uterine fibroids.
Keeping in mind the patient’s urge and desire to be able to conceive a healthy baby in the future, the team also undertook abdominal cervical encirclage – a surgical stitch to prevent future miscarriages due to cervical weakness, and also reconstructed the uterus to restore normal anatomy.
“This was one of the most challenging cases I’ve handled in my career. With a history of multiple failed surgeries, abnormal vascular connections, and placenta percreta, the risk of uncontrollable bleeding and uterine damage was extremely high. But we were determined to give Gladys a fighting chance at motherhood,” said Dr. Supriya Puranik.
Today, Ms. Gladys is stable and recovering well. She expresses deep gratitude to the team in Pune for preserving her dream of motherhood.
“Our goal at MomStory is to support every woman’s right to motherhood, even in the most challenging situations. And this is more than just a medical success for us. It is a story of courage, resilience, and global hope,” added Dr. Puranik.