Surgeons At SUM-Bhubaneswar Conduct Challenging Tumour Surgery On Newborn

Bhubaneswar: Surgeons at SUM Ultimate Medicare (SUMUM) successfully conducted a challenging surgery to remove a huge tumour from the abdomen of a newborn girl.

“The parents of the baby consulted the doctors after they noticed a swelling in her abdomen. The baby weighing 2.5 kg also faced difficulty during feeding on the second day after birth,” said Dr Pradeep Kumar Dey, the hospital’s Senior Consultant, Paediatric and Neonatology.

“After thorough investigation, we found that the baby had an ‘immature teratoma’ of size 10x9x8 cm inside the abdomen. It was decided to conduct the surgery to remove the teratoma,” Dr Dey informed.

A ‘teratoma’ is a tumour composed of tissues not normally present at the site it was located.

Prof. (Dr) Antaryami Pradhan, paediatric surgeon, led the surgery and was assisted by onco-surgeon Dr Sudam Sadangi, while the anaesthesia team comprised of HOD Anaesthesiology Dr Dipankar Padihary, Senior Consultant Anaesthesiology Dr Surupa Deviprada, Dr Prasant Kumar Behera and Dr Sonam Panda.

Prof. Pradhan said the surgery was very challenging as the tumour was closely attached to the major vessels in the baby’s abdomen.

“We had to conduct the surgery with immense care as the teratoma had crossed the midline to the opposite side in baby’s abdomen… This was high-risk surgery where any trivial injury to the aorta or vena cava could have led to adverse outcomes. However, by God’s grace, the surgery was conducted successfully,” Prof. Pradhan elaborated.

Following the surgery, the baby was kept on ventilator support under the treatment of Dr Dey and Dr Ajay Kumar Gahan.

Dr Gahan said the baby had shown great improvement and is now being breastfed.

He pointed out that the team of experienced surgeons, doctors, nursing staff and well-equipped Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) set-up helped in the effective recovery of the baby.