Pune: Despite All The Odds, Doctors Completed Surgery On Premature Baby With Broken Oesophagus
Pune, 12th December 2024: A premature baby, born with Esophageal Atresia (EA), a birth defect that occurs when the esophagus doesn’t form properly during pregnancy was recently operated successfully by the team of specialists in Pune. This critical surgery has given a new life to the baby, who is currently recovering at the hospital under the expert care.
The esophagus is the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach. In EA, the esophagus is divided into two separate sections that don’t connect. Babies with EA can’t digest milk or other fluids, and may have difficulty breathing. Esophageal atresia (EA) repair surgery in premature babies is a complex and delicate procedure.
” In the routine sonography during pregnancy, the baby was diagnosed with EA. The doctor decided to wait till the baby is born, However, In October, the delivery had to take place at about the 31st week (seventh month). Later tests revealed that the baby’s food pipe is not connected to the stomach and also attached to the respiratory system. As a result, the baby could not be breastfed. Therefore, there was no option but to operate on baby within a few hours after birth,” said Dr. Srinivas Tambe, Pediatrician & Neonatalogist, Medipoint Hospital, Aundh.
As we decide to operate the baby just the day after baby’s birth, there were two big challenges before us. Firstly the baby was a premature newborn. Secondly, his weight was just 1.3 kg. Apart from this, there were many obstacles including the blood vessels as thin as hair, underdeveloped lungs etc. Overcoming all this, the surgery to connect the esophagus was successful, “said Dr. Srinivas.
“It was a big challenge to get the esophagus fixed properly after the surgery,” he said.
The child needed to be stabilized after the surgery. In such a situation, baby’s movement was restricted with the help of controlled medication. The baby was kept in the position for nearly eight days. During this time, the baby was being given the necessary nutrients through saline. Health condition was being monitored round the clock. Therefore, emphasis was laid on providing medicines immediately as per the changed norms. So, in eight days, the food pipe was properly connected.
The baby was feeded with first milk after 10 days :
The baby could not be given milk orally as the food pipe was broken and posed a risk of spreading the milk to the chest, which might led to further complexity. Dr. Pranav Jadhav, Pediatric Surgeon Medipoint Aundh Hospital said, “There was no artificial feeding tube. The esophagus in the infant’s stomach was connected to the respiratory tract. The main purpose of the operation was to properly separate the food pipe from respiratory tract and properly repair it. Since the baby was premature and newborn, the esophagus and trachea were small. Every step of the surgery is a challenge. Overcoming all these challenges, the surgery carried out successfully and the newborn took first sip of mother’s milk ten days after arrival in the world.”
