Rare surgery on little boy
Chennai: Doctors at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) have successfully conducted a rare urology surgery on a one-and-a-half-year-old child, Muhammad of Pattabiram, using the lithotropsy technique. So far 42 children have been treated successfully for urinary stone diseases at Rajiv Gandhi hospital.
While children are most unlikely to get infected with kidney stones, sometimes due to metabolic reasons, they get infected, said dean of RGGGH Dr.V.Kanagasabai.
The parents of the child, Farooq and Sabina, admitted him to the general hospital after he had been crying continuously. After initial tests, it was identified that a stone, the size of 2cms was found in his kidney. A team led by Prof.R.Jeyaraman, HoD, urology, conducted the procedures successfully.
According to a press release by the hospital, from January 2008 till date, 23 children have undergone Extra Corporeal Shortwave Lithotripsy (ESWL), a treatment to remove renal stones less than 1.5 cms.
Another method Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is used to treat renal stones greater than 1.5 cms in size. Muhammad was treated by this method. The youngest child to be treated by the ESWL method was also one and a half years old.
According to a doctor, advanced treatments for removal of kidney stones are available at the general hospital that is cheap and effective than in the private hospitals. According to a release, the treatments cost around Rs 16,000 to 60,000 in private hospitals whereas in GH, it is free.
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