25 February 2011
By Ashish Mehta
Jaipur, India
Nine–year–old girl Muskaan Bhadra, a native of Bhadra village of Hanumangarh, has all reasons to smile. After the operation she is asking her mom to cook the things she relishes. After a month since her liver was placed inside her body she is hail and hearty..
Her elated father Rajendra Kumar, talking to TOI on Thursday, said said, "She is fine and her appetite has increased. Initially we thought it was some tumor and had taken her to many hospitals and doctors. But, now after the operation she is fine."
Dr Suneeta Ojha, a pediatric surgeon at Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital, speaking about the ailment and recovery said, "This condition is called Hepatic Omphalocele in which the liver is developed outside the abdomen and is covered by a very thin skin. Normally kids having this problem are operated at birth."
en the complete surgery is not possible at birth we do it after six months or one year of age. But this girl was nine when her parents approached us. It was quite a difficult task to put her liver inside herbody through a surgery. But it was done. Till date there is only one case of a 26–year–old man with this condition who was operated on for the same problem," Ojha claimed.
Asked how difficult the surgery was, she said, "Surgery at this age has never been done. As we had to put her liver back into the abdomen, it could have interfered with blood supply to the liver which had developed abnormally. As the liver was rotated more than 90 degrees outside in the abdomen.
It also reduced the space in the abdomen, so it became difficult for the organs to adjust in such a close space. When you put the liver inside the condition is known as compartment syndrome."
The doctor further said this condition is seen in 1 in 5,000 infants at birth.
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