Doctors at Dr. Rela Institute and Medical Centre (RIMC) here recently performed a small intestine transplant for a four-year-old boy affected by volvulus, a condition that causes the twisting of the intestinal loop.
According to the hospital, the boy from Bengaluru was continuously vomitting for two days. Doctors informed the boy’s family that he had developed volvulus, which resulted in blood supply to the intestinal loop being cut.
An emergency surgery revealed that the small intestinal loop had to be removed. In the absence of small intestine and the consequent inability to take food via mouth, the child had to be connected to an infusion pump round the clock for intravenous delivery of nutrients.
He was referred to RIMC, where the doctors suggested intestinal transplantation. Naresh Shanmugam, senior consultant, children liver and gastro specialist at the hospital, said while children generally lost only a small portion of small intestine due to volvulus, it was complicated in the boy’s case as he had lost the entire organ, with no chance of rehabilitation.
The boy’s father came forward to donate a part of his small intestine. A team headed by Mohamed Rela, hospital chairman and liver transplant surgeon, performed a seven-hour surgery in which 1.5 metres of the father’s small intestine was transplanted to the child. Five weeks after surgery, which happened on September 13, the hospital said the child had fully recovered and was free to have any kind of food. The donor had also recovered.
Dr. Rela said that small intestine transplantation was rarely done in India and appreciated the determination of the boy’s family.
The hospital said that the surgery has been recognised by Asia Book of Records as the case of youngest boy to undergo small intestine transplant.
Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ma. Subramanian and Principal Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department J. Radhakrishnan participated in the event organised to hand over the certificate of recognition to the hospital.
