The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : SAT successfully carries out rare foetal surgery

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Sunday, Jan 14, 2007
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

SAT successfully carries out rare foetal surgery

Staff Reporter

`Ex Utero Intrapartum Treatment' procedure done

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A team of paediatric surgeons at the SAT Hospital have successfully performed a rare in-utero surgery on a 36-week-old foetus, to rectify a condition that was preventing the foetus from breathing properly.

The baby, now seven-days-old, born to Laly and Jose Prakash of Kottarakkara, is doing well and will be discharged on Monday. A jubilant team of surgeons at the SAT hospital said that while the procedure has been attempted in some hospitals, this was the first case in which the outcome has been successful.

The life-saving procedure, called `Ex Utero Intrapartum Treatment' (EXIT), had to be done as both sides of the foetus' chest (Pleural cavity) was filled with fluid, preventing the development of the lungs. The condition was detected on December 1 when the mother underwent an ultrasound scan at 36 weeks of gestation.

The operation, called `bi-lateral pleural effusion', had to be done using the EXIT procedure inside the womb as the foetus faced the risk of suffocation once the umbilical cord was cut.

The doctors planned to take out the baby through a Caesarean section on December 26. On the day, guided by an ultrasound machine, the doctors inserted a needle into the mother and aspirated the fluid from the foetus's chest (Ultra Sound-guided Pleural Aspiration).

This was followed by the C-section surgery on the mother. After opening the uterus, with the baby still inside the uterus, the doctors put a tube through the foetus's nose into the trachea to create an airway for it.

The surgery to rectify pleural effusion was then done on the baby. The maternal placenta acted as the foetal lung during this time.

The baby was put on oxygen supply before the umbilical cord was cut. The baby, which was in the ventilator, began breathing normally after six days.

The surgery was performed by a team of surgeons led by P.Y. Henry, Associate Professor.

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