This boy won’t have to sacrifice his leg

Surat: The parents of five-year-old Santosh (name changed) from Nandurbar in Maharashtra could not imagine their son’s future without a leg when doctors in Nashik suggested amputating it. For, the leg had a cancerous tumour in the thigh bone. However, doctors in Surat recently saved the boy’s leg by using a new procedure. The new method known as “extracorporeal irradiation” is a procedure used to treat bone tumour, particularly in children. The procedure includes sophisticated surgery and radiation. Santosh was admitted to a private hospital, where a thigh bone of 10cm size was removed from his right leg and was taken to the Lions Cancer Detection Centre Trust (LCDCT) at New Civil Hospital (NCH) for radiation. After radiation, the bone was implanted back in the thigh.“In this procedure, the other portion of the boy’s leg did not suffer any damage due to radiation. The boy would have otherwise required 30 sittings of low-dose radiation. Through this method, the bone was given a high-dose of radiation,” said Dr Nehal Patel, a radiation oncologist. The tumour was of 7cm size and for radiation purpose, a bone of 10cm size was removed. It was transported in a sterilized container from the private hospital to the NCH and after 45 minutes of radiation, it was taken back to the private hospital for re-implantation. “Around three months ago, the boy developed pain in the leg and investigations revealed that it was due to cancer in the bone. Doctors advised amputation of the leg after one round of chemotherapy but the parents brought the child to the city for a second opinion,” said Dr Rahul Parmar, an orthopaedic oncosurgeon. Dr Parmar and plastic surgeon Dr Viral Patel performed the surgery. “Plastic surgery was required to ensure growth of the body part after radiation,” said Dr Parmar. LCDCT did not charge any money for the radiation considering the financial condition of the patient. “The team of doctors saved the life of a boy using the latest technology,’’ said Ashok Kanungo, chairman of LCDCT.