Rare Tumour-Removal Surgery Performed On Month-Old Baby

Guwahati: Surgeons at a hospital here were successful in removing a big tumour which looked like "a second head" from the torso of a one-month-old baby on Thursday.

According to a press release, a female baby was born with a big tumor arising from lower part of the body that looked like a second head of the baby. The baby was evaluated with MRI and it was found to be a rare tumor arising from lower part of the body and mingled with nerve root and accumulation of brain fluid, causing huge discomfort to the baby as well as her parents.

Doctors advised parents to build up the baby's health with exclusive breast feeding and prepare her for surgery after one month.

Accordingly, the baby was admitted in private hospital here on February 28 and was prepared for surgery. The cardiac status of the baby was evaluated with paediatric cardiologist and proper pre-operative check-up was performed.

The challenges of surgery were multiple. The size of tumor was like her head and it constitutes the 30% of the body weight of the baby. The removal of 30% body weight mass may cause lots of hemodynamic change in her body like low blood pressure and cardiac failure. The other threat was that the tumor was near the genitalia and excretory system. The removal of tumor may cause the permanent damage to the excretory and genital system, which includes rectum, anus and vagina. A team was made with the onco-surgeon for proper planning and prevention of complication following surgery.

On Thursday the surgical procedure took place and the doctors were able remove the complete tumor without any complications. The duration of the surgery was three hours.

According to the team of doctors, it is the first case of its kind in the North-East. The neuro-oncology team comprised Dr NK Das, Dr Niju Pegu, anesthesiologists Dr Sankat M Bora and Dr Moromi Madhuri Borgohain.

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