More than 4,500 paediatric surgeries done at ICH during peak of pandemic

Doctors at the hospital said despite lockdown, emergency procedures were taken up and about 100-120 emergency cases were handled every month. 

“Though many challenges came our way while operating on children due to risk of transmission and restrictions, the surgeries had to continue. Emergency cases of cancer patients, rare diseases, chronic illnesses, children born with severe health problems had to be done,” said Dr Mohan Kumar, former paediatric surgeon at the Institute of Child Health. 

A large number of the patients come from other states, including Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. However, the numbers dipped this year due to lockdown restrictions. 

As many as 7,347 pediatric surgeries were performed at the Institute of Child Health in 2019. More than 8,500 surgeries were performed across all the departments the same year. 

“Though daycare surgeries and regular treatment surgeries were affected due to lockdown and transportation restrictions, all the departments have started undertaking surgeries now. We have had lesser number of cases of COVID-19 among children, which also gave us the confidence to continue the treatment in full swing,” said Dr K Ezhilarasi, director of Institute of Child Health.