The first-ever pediatric liver transplant in the public sector was successfully completed at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) in Kottayam, marking a significant medical achievement. A five-year-old child with biliary atresia, an uncommon disorder in babies that causes scarring and occlusion of the bile ducts, was the beneficiary of this life-saving surgery. The 25-year-old mother of the kid served as the donor, giving part of her liver during the surgery. According to reports, the mother and kid are both doing well and have stable conditions.Head of MCH’s surgical gastroenterology, Dr. R. S. Sindhu, oversaw the intricate surgery, which started at 6 a.m. and ended at 10:30 p.m. on Friday. With this noteworthy accomplishment, the MCH becomes the second government hospital in India, after the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in Delhi, to successfully execute a pediatric liver transplant.
In order to ensure the success of the surgery, Dr. Sindhu stressed the value of teamwork. She emphasized the inherent hazards associated with doing liver transplants on children, especially when those patients have congenital conditions like biliary atresia, for which these surgeries are frequently the only effective course of treatment. The success of the procedure was credited to the joint efforts of several departments, including radiology, pediatrics, and anesthesia.
The surgical team comprised radiology’s Dr. Sajitha, pediatrician Dr. Jayaprakash, and anesthesiologist Dr. Latha. The transplant team was also assisted by Drs. Sudheendran and Unnikrishnan of the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi. Following the procedure, the ventilator support was turned off for both the donor and the recipient. The youngster was expected to remain in intensive care for at least three weeks, as there was a chance of acute cellular rejection (ACR), which can happen anywhere from five to thirty days after transplantation.
The team’s extraordinary success was commended by Health Minister Veena George, who also brought attention to the difficulty and infrequency of such live transplant procedures in government medical institutes. She praised Dr. Sindhu and the entire team in public for their skill and commitment in finishing the extremely difficult surgery.
SOURCE:
THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
