Rare surgery saves life of Madurai infant

MADURAI: A delicate surgery saved a new born infant suffering from congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a rare congenital anomaly with a big hole on one side of the diaphragm - a thick muscular part which separates the abdomen from the chest. All the abdominal organs including liver, small intestine and large intestine were inside the thorax, causing severe compression and poor development of the lungs.
The baby which was delivered on June 27 in a local private hospital in Madurai was rushed to Vadamalayan Hospital the next day, as she developed severe respiratory problems. Paediatric surgeon, G Ganesh Prabhu told media persons on Friday that as soon as the child was admitted, she was put on mechanical ventilation and was stabilised using the surfactant high frequency oscillator ventilator. The surgery was held on June 29 and the team of doctors cut open the stomach to fix the hole in the diaphragm and pushed the organs from the thorax to the stomach region. The baby quickly recovered in the post operative period and within four days, she was able to breathe on her own, he said.
Prabhu said that it was a delicate operation as the organs of the child were small and extreme care had to taken while operating. "The child will be normal in future as her lungs expansion is good after the surgery," he said. The surgery took one hour and fifteen minutes by the team of doctors consisting paediatric surgeons G Ganesh Prabu and Karuppasamy, anaesthesiologist Shanmugasundaram, paediatric cardiologist B R J Kannan and paediatricians P Vinoth and S Navarasu.