Child undergoes record number of bronchoscopies

After almost losing hope of their only child's survival, Pankaj and Pinky Tewari are happy to see their daughter recover and ready to take her home.
21-month-old Anushka from Bhopal underwent more than 70 bronchoscopies in one year, which the doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital claim, the first case in the world where the procedure was done so many times.
Anuskha was suffering from acute pneumonia when she was admitted to the hospital an year ago after mistakenly ingesting 15 ml of baby oil when she was nine-months-old.
After more then 70 bronchoscopies in one year, she has recovered from the illness and is in a healthy condition.

The oil went into Anushka's lungs and besides pneumonia, it also led to respiratory problems, the doctors said.
"I went to various hospitals. They told my daughter doesn't have much time and referred me to the ICU ward of Ganga Ram Hospital," Pankaj said.

Explaining how serious Anushka's condition was, Dr Anil Sachdeva said, "the body does not have mechanisms to clear oil particles. Thus, it was unable to maintain oxygen. We had to do more than 70 bronchoscopies to clear the oil from the lungs."
This is the first case in the world where these many bronchoscopies have been done, Dr Sachdeva said.

"Initially I was told by various hospitals that my child cannot survive. I am thankful to Ganga Ram for cooperation till one year and waiving off the hospital fees," Pankaj, who just had to pay the fees for first 13 days, said.
The hospital waived off Rs 22 lakh as hospital fees on the request of doctors working on the case.
Though not fully recovered, Anushka is fit to lead a normal life now.
"70 per cent oil has been removed. The procedure of bronchoscopy will go on till the oil is removed completely. But now she can lead a normal life," Dr Dhiren Gupta said.

Little Anushka looked amused as she cut a small cake arranged for her by the hospital staff. "The hospital staff have become part of our family in this one year," her mother said.