The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : `Healthy' food pipe offers hope

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 15, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`Healthy' food pipe offers hope

Ramya Kannan

One-year-old Susi recovering at Childs Trust Hospital. — Photo:R. Ragu

CHENNAI: Susi might have lived a normal life had he not been `fed' acid by his father, who did not want the child, when just three months old.

The one-year-old is now in hospital, tubes running through of his slender frame, waiting for the scars of the trauma to heal. The acid burnt his oesophagus and affected his vision.

The child was unable to eat solid food, said S. Sridharan, paediatric surgeon and medical director, Childs Trust Hospital.

The only way out was to open his chest, remove the affected portion of the oesophagus and reconnect it. It required a complex surgery involving a six-seven inch incision on the chest, prolonged hospitalisation and enduring lots of pain.

Luckily for Susi, that was when Prem Puri and his team of paediatric surgeons from all over the world came calling. Dr. Puri, based in Ireland for the last 30 years, invites a team of surgeons every year to India to demonstrate latest techniques used in their countries. These doctors pay their fares, perform surgeries free and train local surgeons in new techniques.

Susi was fortunate that Klass Bax was on Dr. Puri's team to Chennai this year. Dr. Bax used a thoracoscope inserted through three small (0.5 mm) incisions on the chest to sever the damaged portion of the oesophagus. The surgeon stitched up the ends, creating a `healthy' food pipe.

Dr. Priya Ramachandran, consultant paediatric surgeon, Childs Trust, said the surgery and the post-operative care were free of cost. "We have been to three hospitals so far, spent all our money and even sold some gold to get Susi back on his feet," says his grandmother Pachai. "Only here have we been given some hope. His vision is blurred, his tongue is thick and he has not started walking yet."

The doctors are confident that Susi will be able to lead a normal life.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu