Newborn suffering feeding problem gets new lease of life

In rarest of its kind, a paediatric surgery performed by doctors at a city-based hospital gave a new lease of life to a newborn, suffering from a life-threatening defect of the alimentary canal.

Baby boy, Aayat, suffered from a critical birth defect known as esophageal atresia, which blocks the mucous membrane-lined tube of the digestive system that extends from the mouth to the anus.

After the attempts of feeding the baby using a plastic feeding tube also failed, the baby was brought to Columbia Asia Hospital in Ghaziabad, where a team led by Dr. Rajeev Aggarwal, Paediatric Surgeon, immediately decided to conduct a surgery to resolve the breathing and feeding problems.

"Aayat was suffering from an abnormality of the esophagus, known as esophageal atresia. This is a complex birth defect, which interrupts the formation of the esophageal tube in newborns. This is the reason why he could not swallow or intake nutrients via the feeding tube as the alimentary canal gets blocked," said Dr. Aggarwal.

"The condition could lead to aspirational pneumonia and threaten the child's life, if medical attention is not given on time," Dr Aggarwal added.

In Aayat's case, both the upper and lower segments of the oesophagus ended abruptly in pouches, which complicated the issue furthermore and led to acute respiratory distress and coughing or choking while feeding.

"We conducted an X-ray and pre-surgical review to understand in detail the complication and possible implications of the surgery. Since the baby was in serious condition and required immediate relief, the surgery was conducted on the same day," Dr Aggarwal explained.

The entire surgery lasted for few hours and was followed by careful medical assessment by a team of paediatricians headed by Dr Sanjay Sharma.

"Thankfully for Aayat, there have been no additional complications after the surgery, which has helped in preventing breathing secretions to enter into his lungs," said Dr. Sharma.

The baby was discharged from the hospital on the ninth day after the surgery in a stable condition.

He is now able to take full breastfeeding and his parents are happy and thankful to the doctors, who treated their baby.