Teen given new lease of life after doctors perform successful spinal cord surgery

Doctors in Coimbatore gave a new lease of life to a 14-year-old boy from Kolkata suffering from a rare spinal cord disorder. The boy's spinal cord was in an 'S' shape and doctors at a city hospital had to perform a nine-hour surgery to correct it.

The boy was diagnosed as having 'idiopathic scoliosis,' a condition in which his curved spinal cord made him bend too low to the extent of 100 degrees to the left side.

He was brought to KG Hospital, where a team of doctors, comprising orthopaedic and spinal surgeons performed a nine-hour operation to set right the spine. After spending three days in the Intensive Care Unit and two days on ventilators, the boy was shifted to the ward room and would be discharged in another couple of days, Hospital Chairman Dr G Bhakthavathsalam said in a release.

After the corrective surgery, the boy gained 8 cm height and started standing and sitting erect and breathing easy, he said, adding it was a 'cosmetic and functional surgery' as not only had the boy's physical appearance got a facelift, but his normal activity had also improved.

Dr Bhaktavathsalam expressed confidence that the boy would even be able to play football in another six months. He said Idiopathic scoliosis usually affects girls, either before or after puberty and such occurrences in was pretty rare in boys. Only one person per one lakh population is susceptible to it, he said.