NEW DELHI: After battling for survival for over three weeks at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here, two-year old baby Falak's condition improved "marginally" Friday even as doctors at the hospital said the next 48 hours are crucial for the baby.
"Falak is marginally better. She has been taken off the ventilator, but the next 48 hours are crucial to decide the course of treatment for the baby," Deepak Agrawal, assistant professor of neurosurgery at the apex trauma centre, AIIMS, told IANS.
The team of doctors monitoring the toddler's condition say the chest and blood infection have subsided, but the brain infection is still a cause for concern.
Falak was brought to AIIMS by a teenager Jan 18 with a fractured skull, bruises and human bite marks all over her tiny frame. The girl who claimed to be her mother is now in a juvenile home.
While the key-accused Raj Kumar Gupta is still absconding, Delhi police have arrested eight people in their probe that delves into the human trafficking and the prostitution angle.
As uncertainty looms over the baby's survival, doctors say they will be conducting a crucial surgery on Falak soon.
"Once the brain infection subsides, we will conduct a surgery on the brain. It is called 'shunt' surgery, where we will be inserting a plastic tube from the stomach to the brain and drain out the brain fluid," Agrawal explained.
The plastic tube, say doctors, would be the only permanent solution, but if the tube leads to any infection, the procedure will be managed with surgery in future.