Baby undergoes 7-hour-long operation for excision of tumour

Rekha’s baby in womb had developed tumour on its back and so she was advised to abort her foetus. But she refused to do so.

Well, the baby girl lived. But the tumour began to grow thin and fast which was threat to the life of the child.

Doctors were earlier waiting for the infant to weigh at least 6 kg before taking out the tumour but then they had to find some way to carry out the delicate procedure.

"We knew if we waited, the tumour would ruputure. It had grown by at least 2 cm in less than a week," said Dr G Balamurali, spine and neurosurgeon, who Rekha and her husband Santhanam, a farmer in Vellore, approached for help.

The tumour had grown the size bigger than baby’s head.

The baby was taken to operation theatre after seven days of her birth. The baby could not lie on her back as the tumour was located on the back of the spine. 

A team of doctors comprising a neurosurgeon, paediatric surgeon, plastic surgeon and anaesthetists at Kauvery hospital undertook the procedure, which spanned seven hours.

"The biggest challenge was to ensure the tumour didn't rupture during the procedure. A small tear can result in loss of at least 100ml of blood," said Dr Sivasankar Jayakumar, paediatric surgeon.

A baby, weighing around 2.5kg like this infant, usually has around 250ml. Surgeons operated around the tumour in order to excise it. It was 300 gms, they told.