Bhubaneswar: Surgeons of SUM Ultimate Medicare here have successfully removed a cricket ball-sized skull base tumour from a 15-year-old boy through minimal invasive surgery.
Sudam Kishku, who is from Mayurbhanj district, experienced facial swelling and pain lateral to his left eye for nearly six years. The swelling got progressively worse close to the eye and became large enough to worry family members.
The boy was taken to several hospitals, but no solution to the medical condition could be found.
When he was brought to SUM Ultimate Medicare recently, the young teen was admitted under Dr Radhamadhab Sahu, Senior Consultant and Head of Department of ENT and Skull Base Surgery.
A thorough examination and relevant radiological investigations revealed the existence of a 7 cm tumour involving the left supra and infratemporal fossa.
Dr Sahu said the location of the large tumour, involving base of the skull, presented a difficult challenge.
“It was difficult to remove the tumour completely and take care of cosmesis of the face at the same time. We opted for endoscope assisted minimal invasive surgery adopting trans zygomatic approach to remove the tumour completely which lasted for two hours,” Dr Sahu informed.
The boy recovered well and was free from any complication, when doctors decided to discharge him from the hospital on the fourth day after surgery.
The biopsy report suggested it was a nerve sheath tumour or ‘Schwannoma’, said Dr Sahu, and added that the post-operative scan revealed a complete tumour removal.
According to Dr Sahu, trigeminal nerve Schwannoma of such big size in a 15-year-old boy is a rare occurrence as these tumours are found in people in the age group of 30 to 50 years. Usually these tumours lead to facial pain, numbness and paresthesia in the distribution of one of all the divisions of trigeminal nerve depending upon the location of the tumour, he added.
