Surgeons At Bhubaneswar’s SUMUM Remove Tennis Ball-Sized Brain Mass Through Child’s Nose

Bhubaneswar: A team of SUM Ultimate Medicare (SUMUM) surgeons recently removed a tennis ball-sized brain mass through the nose of an eight-year-old boy endoscopically.

Jajpur’s Ayush Kumar Sahu had been brought to the hospital here complaining of nasal obstruction, mouth breathing, nasal bleed and headache for over six months.

The child’s family members had consulted other hospitals in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, but there was no proper diagnosis of the problem.

Admitted under Dr Radhamadhab Sahu, Senior Consultant and Head of the Department of ENT & Skull Base Surgery at SUMUM,

Relevant radiological investigations were done after Ayush was brought to Dr Radhamadhab Sahu, Senior Consultant and Head of the Department of ENT & Skull Base Surgery at SUMUM.

An 8-cm mass extending from the brain to behind the nose was detected. It was diagnosed as meningoencephalocele.

The mass was removed endoscopically without a single incision on the child’s face.

“Meningoencephalocele is an abnormal sac of fluid, brain tissue and meninges (membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord) which extends through a defect in the skull,” Dr Sahu said.

“In this case, the sac extended through the base of the skull into the nose and nasopharynx, completely blocking the nasal airway and also compromising the oral airway. This caused the child to develop the symptoms he showed,” he explained.

The team which conducted the endoscopic excision of the mass and repaired the anterior skull base defect comprised Dr Sahu, Senior Anaesthetist Dr Ranjit Pati and ENT surgeon Dr Puja Lakhotia.

Post operation, the patient was managed by a team of paediatricians headed by Dr Pradeep Kumar Dey, Senior Consultant & Head of Department of Paediatrics, in the Paediatric ICU to prevent the child from developing meningitis.

Dr Sahu informed that the child is doing fine a month after the surgical procedure with all his complaints being resolved.

Endoscopic skull base surgery is a complicated surgical procedure.

SUMUM’s department of ENT and Skull Base Surgery is one of the few centres in India where the surgery is done.