Bhubaneswar, January 27: Surgeons at SUM Ultimate Medicare (SUMUM) here have successfully treated an infant suffering from severe Laryngomalacia, a congenital softening of the tissues in the larynx.
Four-month-old child was brought to the hospital by the distressed parents as the baby showed signs of severe respiratory distress with chest and neck retractions.
The patient was rushed to the pediatric ICU and kept under the treatment of Dr. Ajay Kumar Gahan for further evaluation. The parents informed that the baby had multiple similar aggravated chest retractions since birth.
A flexible bronchoscopy was done by Dr. Radhamadhan Sahu, Senior Consultant and Head of ENT and Skull Base Surgery, which revealed that the baby was suffering from severe Laryngomalacia, a condition in which floppy tissue above the vocal cords fall into the airway when the baby breaths resulting in noisy breathing, known as Stridor.
As the baby required oxygen support and developed pneumonia as well, it was decided to conduct a surgical procedure known as Supraglottoplasty as recommended by Dr. Sahu.
After prolonged discussion, minimal invasive endoscopic airway surgery was conducted by Dr. Sahu and his team with anesthetist Dr. Sabyasachi Tripathy performing an important role.
The baby was subsequently kept in the ICU for a few days and presently did not have any respiratory distress. The parents were happy as the baby had recovered and was above to take feed.
Dr. Sahu said Laryngomalacia was mild in about 80 per cent cases but was severe in 10 to 20 per cent cases. The infants having the disease suffered from noisy breathing and were unable to take feed and grow. They also exhibited chest and neck retraction and apneic spells with blueing around the lips.
The surgery was done free of cost in the hospital under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) scheme. SUMUM has emerged as a centre for addressing many difficult airway diseases, Dr. Sahu said.