When she arrived at the gynaecologists clinic in September, Sheela Mansukhani (name changed), 43, looked like she was in the ninth month of pregnancy. But the ultrasound told a shocking tale. Her protruding belly was, in fact, her uterus - which had multiple fibroids in it.

Weighing 4.1kg - almost 55 times the weight of a normal uterus and heavier than the average newborn - the uterus with multiple fibroids measured 27cm x 18cm x 21cm.

"An immediate hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) was a necessity," said Dr Rakesh Sinha, gynaecologist and laparoscopic surgeon, who, along with his team, performed the procedure on Mansukhani on September 21.

This feat has now earned Sinha a mention in the Guinness World Records for Medicine, for the largest uterus removed. Dr Sinha has another Guinness record to his name, for laparoscopically removing the largest fibroid weighing 3.4kg. He did that in 2005.

Traditionally, a hysterectomy is performed through a large cut in the abdomen that involves blood loss and an extended recovery period. But Mansukhani, who works in a multinational company and is the mother of two, was afraid of open surgery.

"Fibroids can cause discomfort, pain, excessive bleeding, and irregular periods," said Dr Chaitali Mahajan, gynaecologist, who performed the surgery with Dr Sinha. "The patient was so afraid that she waited for four years before opting for surgery."

The surgeons used a popular alternative procedure -- laparoscopy -- which causes little bleeding, post-operative trauma, and scarring.

"The procedure lasted four hours and 15 minutes," said Dr Sinha, founder-director of the Bombay Endoscopy Academy and Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery (Beams) Hospital, a super-specialty hospital for women. The patient lost only about 350ml of blood and was discharged without pain within 48 hours, he said.

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