Ahmadabad: 8-year-old girl who drank acid accidentally gets a new food pipe in a rare surgery, able to eat now

The happiness of parents of 8-year-old Neha knew no bounds as their daughter was able to eat on her own after a period of more than 6 years. The girl who had drunk acid by accident when she was just 1.5 years old, went through a successful surgery at Ahmadabad’s Vadilal Sarabhai hospital, and is able to lead a normal life once again.

According to reports, the acid she had accidently consumed had severely damaged her food pipe except for only 1 cm which was intact.  After then till the operation, she was being fed liquid food through a tube inserted in her intestine for more than 6 years.

Her distressed parents, who work as daily wagers, had no respite as doctors in several hospitals refused help. Many of them refused to operate on the underweight daughter who weighed just 19.5 kgs.

Two months ago, the parents went with their daughter to Ahmadabad’s VS hospital on a doctor’s suggestion.

On May 9, the girl underwent a successful surgery by a team of doctors in which her oesophagus was replaced. It was a rare surgery termed as “gastric pull up oesophageal reconstruction.” It lasted for around 5 hours and it included creating an 8 inch long incision from neck to abdomen to create a new passage for food.

“We took a section of her small intestine and replaced the oesophagus, thereby creating a new link between her mouth and stomach,” Dr Hasmukh Vora, associate professor (surgical gastroenterology) at VS Hospital, was quoted as saying.

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He further added that it was a challenge to operate on a child who was underweight owing to many factors.

Neha, who belongs to the Mau district of Uttar Pradesh, could eat solid foods from May 15 and is expected to be discharged on Thursday.

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