8 year old boy from West Bengal treated for a complicated tumour at RGGGH

CHENNAI: A eight year old child from West Bengal was diagnosed with a stage IV tumour in his nose and was referred to 3 hospitals for various kinds of treatment. However, because of lack of treatment options and complications associated, he could not undergo surgery. When brought to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in June, he was evaluated and successfully treated.

TheENT specialists at the hospital, along with senior doctors from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Department of Vascular Surgery and Department of Anesthesiology performed the surgery on the boy last week.

The tumor was removed from the base of the brain and near the eyes through an endoscopy using a state-of-the-art equipment Coblator, that was procured at the hospital under the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.

Doctors say that vascular tumour is more common in adolescent male and is related to the male hormones. It was a challenging case because there was bleeding during the surgery and the location of the tumour was also critical.

"Blood vessels from the location of the tumour were also reaching to the eyes and the brain. He had double vision, besides bleeding and pain. The parents and the patient were frustrated after numerous referrals and no certainty over it. So we decided to go ahead with an endoscopic surgery to remove the tumour," said Dr N Suresh Kumar, professor of ENT at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.

"The routine instruments cannot be used on the nostrils of a 8-year-old so we used the endoscopic method. The endoscope was placed in a certain manner to make it ready to operate. Two surgeons operated on him and he was successfully completed without major blood loss. Even anaesthetists face problems because it was a long surgery lasting for about 5 years," Dr Suresh.

After a week of treatment, the boy was discharged and sent home safely. He has recovered well.