Kasturba Hospital performs rare surgery on Duplication of Oesophagus
Manipal, Aug 27, 2021: Department of Pediatric Surgery at Kasturba Medical College and Hospital– Manipal successfully performed a complex and rare Oesophagus duplications surgery on two pediatrics patients.
According to the doctors, Oesophageal duplications are exceedingly rare congenital embryonal malformations. Tubular types of duplications is still a rarer form of oesophageal duplication.
Though the lesions are since birth, symptoms are rarely seen in childhood, but more symptomatic in adults. It may result in difficulty in swallowing, breathing difficulty, chest pain, epigastric discomfort, vomiting, stridor, cough, bleeding, and hematemesis or may be incidentally detected.
Because of varied presentations, diagnosis is often difficult or delayed. The only option of managing these conditions is the surgical removal of the duplications.
KMC’s Dept. of Paediatric Surgery had 2 cases of oesophageal duplication. While the one was an 11-month baby, the other one was an 11-year girl.
The 11-month baby faced recurrent respiratory infections and difficulty in breathing. The other child had a change in voice and also suffered from neck swelling and faced breathlessness in lying down position.
The patients were evaluated with x-ray, CT scan, and endoscopy. Even after a complete evaluation, it was not able to diagnose the duplication in the 11-year patient. It was a surprise to see complete duplication of the oesophagus during surgery.
Dr. Vijay Kumar, Professor, and Head of Paediatric surgery with his team of doctors Dr. Santhosh Prabhu, Dr. Sundeep PT, Dr. Harsha Acharya, and Dr. Ranjani, removed this duplication of the oesophagus by opening the neck and thorax(chest) of the patient.
Dr. Aravind Bishnoi, a cardiothoracic surgeon helped intraoperatively in one patient. Pediatric anesthetist Dr. Ajith gave anesthesia support. Both patients have recovered completely after surgery.
“These anomalies are extremely rare problems in children and may have different presentations at different age groups. Diagnosis may be difficult in some cases, even after a complete evaluation, as we had in one case here,” Dr. Vijay Kumar said.
A high level of suspicion in diagnosis is important. If not operated in time, it can lead to various complications increasing morbidity.
So timely diagnosis, understanding the correct anatomy before the major surgery and a good infrastructure with a team of experts is important in managing these extremely rare problems in children.
Dr. Avinash Shetty, Medical Superintendent congratulated the Pediatric Surgery team.
“This kind of complex surgery was successfully undertaken at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal due to the team of expert doctors. This gives new hopes to the pediatric patients of coastal and middle Karnataka”
