Journalism of Courage
On September 24,city-based Dr Shashank Shrotriya,a paediatric surgeon who works with KEM Hospital,rushed to Panvel to perform a Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) ligation on a premature baby that weighed only 580 gms.
The baby ,Gauri Patil,was born in Alibaug in the beginning of September at 24 weeks of pregnancy with the PDA condition: A blood vessel fails to close normally in an infant soon after birth. She was rushed to the Sai Child Care Clinic at Panvel by her parents,Rajendra and Ashwini Patil. She was put on ventilator for three weeks. On the 20th day,Dr Shrotriya came from Pune to Panvel to perform the surgery. The surgery required a very stringent set-up and some doctors from Mumbai were doubtful about its success. But Dr Shrotriya has done surgeries of this kind and was willing to come in, said Dr Mahesh Mohite of the clinic. The baby will be discharged on Wednesday and she is now healthy and weighs 1.08 kg.
The surgery was a first for Dr Shrotriya in the sense that he had never before operated on a baby that weighed only 580 gms. I have operated on babies weighing 700 and 900 gm, he said. The risks involved in the operation were high. Her structure was very delicate. She was not bigger than the size of our mobile phones, he said,adding,There was a risk of the baby dying during surgery or her temperature falling drastically. We had to ensure that there was no blood loss. Anesthesia too was a challenge and so was the post-operative care.
The surgery took two and a half hours. The baby responded well. I like to think of it like she is a baby girl so she fought it well. In a country where female foeticide is so prevalent,it was great to see that a 580 gm baby girl was taken care of so well by doctors and parents, Dr Shrotriya said.
Dr Shrotriya remained in touch with Dr Mohite to inquire about the babys post-operative recovery. Dr Mohite confirmed that the baby will not have any complications from the heart point of view. In the 17 years of my professional life,I have never come across a baby that weighed so less, said Dr Shrotriya. She is now recovered,is feeding well and weighs above a kg, he added.
