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Ahmedabad: A team of three city-based paediatric surgeons successfully carried out a rare surgery on a nine-month-old boy from Surat to correct a condition called chylous ascites. As per international medical records, only 28 such surgeries have so far been performed on people the world over.
Chylous ascites is caused due to a congenital defect and it obstructs the lymphatic channel near the small intestie. The channel is vital for sending processed fat and protein derived from food stored in the small intestine to the veins. The processed fat and protein is transformed into a milky-white liquid called chyle and is carried to the veins.
However, the chyle could not be carried to the veins of the child as there was an obstruction in the lymphatic channel. It insetead leaked into the abdomen causing it to swell. The child was also denied protein and fat supplements due to the leakage.
"When the baby was brought to us, he was suffering from conditions like distension of the abdomen, malnutrition, anaemia, oedema of legs and feet and puffines of face," said paediatric surgeon N Bhattacharjee.
Bhattacharjee along with Ashok Shah and Sudhir Chandna performed the rare surgery at Sterling Hospital recently. The doctors claimed that the surgery was the first of its king to be performed in Gujarat.
"The condition of the child was critical. The obstruction in the lymphatic channel had led to malnutrition and the distension in the abdomen posed a danger to his lungs and liver. The only way to save the life of the patient was through a surgery," Chandna said.
Speaking about the surgery, Shah said the team used a special "peritoneo venous shunt from the abdomen to the 'vena carva', which is the largest vein in the body. "We used a valve to regulate the whole process. The baby was discharged the seventh day after the operaion. The swelling has disappeared and he is now recuperating. We recently conducted a test to ascertain his post-opetaive condition. The shunt is working properly and the child is doing well now," he said.
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