Surgeons at Government Rajindra Medical College and Hospital, Patiala, have successfully performed a complex surgery on a newborn suffering from a rare congenital defect that had made swallowing milk or even saliva impossible.
The problem posed a serious threat of chest infection and endangering the infant’s life.
Disclosing this, the Health Minister Balbir Singh said the newborn was diagnosed with a severe congenital abnormality in the food pipe soon after birth.
The baby could neither consume food nor swallow saliva, leading to a life-threatening situation.
He said a team led by Dr Ravi Garg from the Department of Paediatric Surgery, along with Dr Teg Rabab Singh and Dr Sukrit Singh, carried out the surgery successfully.
The anaesthesia team was headed by Dr Parmod Kumar and included Dr Tripat Kaur Bindra and Dr Sumit Soni.
During the operation, the surgeons created an opening in the esophagus through the neck to drain saliva, while a feeding tube was inserted directly into the baby’s stomach to ensure proper nutrition.
Balbir Singh said the congenital defect affected nearly one in every 4,500 newborns in India and claimed that survival rates in such cases remained low.
He added that Rajindra Hospital had successfully treated the rare defect through the surgery for the first time in many years.
He said the baby remained admitted in the intensive care unit for 26 days after the surgery and recovered under continuous medical supervision.
According to him, besides Patiala, such surgeries in the government sector were currently performed only at Government Medical College, Faridkot.
Balbir Singh said the treatment would have cost nearly Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh in a private hospital. However, the entire treatment was provided free of cost under the Punjab Government’s Chief Minister Sehat Yojana.
