The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Ultrasound may result in `misguided treatment'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 05, 2007
ePaper


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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Ultrasound may result in `misguided treatment'

Sahana Charan

Not all children with anatomic abnormality need surgery: doctor

Bangalore: The available imaging technologies employed during pregnancy may not always be accurate, and therefore, may not enable correction of birth defects, feels a group of dedicated paediatric surgeons.

These "ethical" surgeons are out to spread the message that congenital abnormalities in children may not always need surgical intervention and that technologies such as ultrasound may cause more harm than good.

With this in mind, the group of like-minded doctors, including M. Bajpai, Professor of Paediatric Surgery at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences; Rama Jayanthi from the division of Paediatric Urology at the Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, United States; Antony Robert C., Associate Professor, Department of Paediatric Surgery at St. John's Medical College Hospital, and others are creating awareness among other medical professionals, including radiologists, obstetricians and urologists, about the abuse of imaging technologies and the need to be selective about surgery.

Personal management

"Often, imaging technologies such as ultrasound have the potential for misguided treatment. Not all children with perceived anatomic abnormality may need a surgical intervention. What is needed is individualised medical management of the child's problem," said Dr. Rama Jayanthi.

Illustrating this statement, he said that in India, as in other parts of the world, dilation of kidneys was one of the most common foetal abnormalities and it was a misconception among doctors that this was a sign of obstruction in the passage of waste materials in the child.

"But most often it has been found that the problem goes away as the child grows and if you do not do anything about it.

"Therefore, surgery may not be necessary, unless the problem is severe," he pointed out

He added that pre-conception technologies that may be used illegally by some doctors to determine the sex of the foetus were not advanced.

According to Dr. Anthony Robert, with the increasing role of ultrasound during pregnancy, the number of children with abnormalities in India is on the rise.

Even though such technologies may enable early correction of defects, in the majority they open a Pandora's box with a potential for misguided treatment.

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