Bhubaneswar, April 25: In a remarkable feat of neonatal and surgical care, doctors at
SUM Ultimate Medicare (SUMUM) here have successfully turned around a preterm baby
weighing 1520 grams with complex and congenital conditions.
The baby, born at 33 weeks, was diagnosed with Pierre Robin Sequence, a rare anomaly
which is found in 1 in 14,000 live births.
The baby was born with a significantly small lower jaw causing downward displacement
of the tongue and causing life-threatening upper airway obstruction. Additionally, the baby had
a cleft palate further complicating the breathing and feeding process.
Due to the baby’s extremely small mouth opening, conventional methods of intubation
or ventilation were not possible. Hence, the doctors in a pioneering move which could be one
of the first of its kind in Odisha performed a delicate tracheotomy by creating a small airway
and inserting a tube through an incision in the neck to allow the baby to breathe.
“The medical team attempted a tracheotomy, but the smallest available tracheotomy
tube (2.5 mm) could not be inserted because of the baby’s anatomy. In a critical on-table
decision, the team performed a retrograde intubation through the tracheal port to secure the
airway,” lead surgeon Dr. Radhamadhab Sahu, Senior Consultant, ENT and Skull Base Surgery,
said.
“As a smaller sized tube was not available anywhere nearby, the 2.5 mm tube was
successfully inserted using rare tracheal splitting technique a first-of-its-kind intervention in
Odisha,” Dr. Sahu said.
“The baby endured a stormy NICU stay but responded well to intensive care. With
better nutrition and airway management with non-invasive ventilation techniques, the baby is
now three and half months old, gaining healthy weight and breathing independently,” Dr.
Himanshu Sekhar Sahoo, Associate Consultant, Pediatrics and Neonatology, and the treating
physician, said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Pradeep Kumar Dey, the head of Pediatrics & Neonatology department
at SUMUM described the case as a challenge for the medical team, both medically and
emotionally. The hospital’s multidisciplinary team’s coordination and NICU’s advanced support
system made it possible, he said.
The baby’s successful treatment has underscored SUMUM’s growing reputation as a
centre of excellence for high risk neonatal care in eastern India.
SUMUM DOCTORS SUCCESSFULLY BATTLE TO SAVE BABY WITH RARE CONGENITAL CONDITION
