Rare Tumour Weighing 1Kg In Newborn Removed At SUM-Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar A team of neurosurgeons at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital in Odisha capital successfully conducted a critical surgery to remove a rare tumour attached to the tailbone of a newborn recently.

The baby boy, born to a couple from Khurda district, had a tumour, which resembled a head with skin, ears and hair. The parents rushed the baby to the hospital.

After the baby was examined by paediatricians, a team under the supervision of neurosurgeon and SOA’s Principal Advisor (Health Science), Prof. Ashok Kumar Mahapatra decided to conduct the surgery.

Speaking to mediapersons, Prof Mahapatra said the condition, known as sacrococcygeal teratoma in medical parlance, could be life threatening and required immediate surgery for the removal of the tumour. It is rare and happens in 1:40,000 live births. “It was a congenital defect and occurred within two to four weeks of conception. The tumour takes shape at one end of the neural tube which develops to be the brain and spinal cord. In this case, the tumour weighed about one kg,” he said.

Professor in the Neuro Surgery department Soubhagya Panigrahi informed that the surgery, conducted under the state government’s BSKY scheme, took nearly 3 hours. Ram Chandra Deo of the same department said that anaesthetists and the team manning the neo-natal ICU had a significant role in making the surgery successful.

The condition of the baby is stable and he is recuperating.