Boy, whose 22 litres blood was sucked by hookworms, cured

The diagnosis was possible only after hospital recommended the rarely-used vitamin capsule-size endoscopy.

According to doctors, the boy was referred to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SRGH) in August last year with complaints of passage of blood in his stool.

“The child was suffering from iron deficiency aemia for the last two years. He was being maged with repeated blood transfusions and received 50 units (22 litres) of blood transfusions in the last two years,” said Anil Arora, Chairperson of Gasreroenterology Department at SRGH.

Arora said the patient’s diagnosis could not be established despite various repeated tests including esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), colonoscopy and radiographic studies of the intestine. The patient’s haemoglobin was low at 5.86. As the problem persisted and there was gastrointestil bleeding, the doctor decided to go for the rarely-used Capsule endoscopy.

Capsule endoscopy is a procedure that uses a tiny wireless camera to take pictures of the digestive tract. A capsule endoscopy camera sits inside a vitamin-size capsule that the patient has to swallow.  (IANS)