Surgeons Of SUMUM In Bhubaneswar Conduct Surgery On Baby Having Rare Tessier Cleft

Bhubaneswar: Surgeons at SUM Ultimate Medicare (SUMUM) in Bhubaneswar have conducted a successful surgery to correct the congenital defect in a 15-month-old baby girl who was born with a rare condition of Tessier Cleft.

The parents of the child, Smruti, had gone to several hospitals before bringing her to SUMUM as the baby had multiple clefts in the eye and nose region and the surgery was considered a risky proposition. Led by Dr Unmesh Kumar Jena, Consultant, Plastic Surgery, the surgery was conducted recently by a team of doctors and anesthesiologists including Dr Dipankar Padhiary, Dr Sabyasachi Tripathy and Dr Roshni.

“Such cases, also known as Craniofacial Cleft, are rare and there are around 50 to 60 known cases in the world (less than 15 in India and third in Odisha) till now. The incidence is 1 to 4 in 1,00,000 live births,” Dr Jena said.

He said the surgery was conducted with great care and the baby has been recuperating well since the congenital defect was successfully corrected. She had Epiphora, meaning excessive lacrimation from left eye, inappropriate closure of the left eye and recurrent Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI), because of an anomaly in the nose, he added.

The hospital decided to perform the challenging surgery under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) scheme which covered all costs. The baby might need a secondary procedure for reconstruction of cartilage in the nose and address any bone loss after she reaches 18 years of age, Dr Jena said.

“The life saving surgery was needed now as there was the possibility of the baby developing Keratitis, meaning infection of the cornea, which could lead to complete blindness in future if not treated immediately,” he said.