Two infants who were born without food pipe (esophagus) got a new lease of life in JIPMER, with pediatric surgeons successfully performing esophageal replacements.
A team of doctors comprising paediatric surgeons Dr Bibekanand Jindal and Dr Bikash Kumar Naredi along with anasthetic and nursing team took up the complex operation in JIPMER.
The first child (girl) was born without food pipe. The surgeons made two openings, one for draining out the saliva from the mouth and the other for feeding the child by directly inserting food into the stomach. The child was kept in ICU and then discharged after four to five days.
Incidentally, the child was abandoned by the parents and was handed over to Cluny orphanage. After the child became one and half year old and gained some strength, the child was admitted for surgery in JIPMER.
The stomach of the child was pulled up and attached to the small portion of the esophagus. While, the surgery took around six hours.Though the baby had developed chest infection while on ventilator, after the treatment with higher antibiotics and intensive care, she was fine.
Later, the child was discharged home on oral feed and is doing well, said Dr Jindal.
Following the success, another similar surgery was done on a one-year old child from Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu. The food pipe was reconstructed with tube constructed through surgery from the greater curvature of the stomach to replace the esophagus.
The surgery took eight hours and the child was put on ventilator for three days and weaned off on the fourth day.
In the post-operative period, the child had minor leak at the site of the cervical anastomosis which was stopped and healed after two days. Both the children are able to feed orally and swallow food, said Dr Jindal.