Ahmedabad Doctors create new food pipe of a 8 yr old Girl who drank acid

New Delhi: The surgeons of Ahmedabad's Vadilal Sarabhai hospital has successfully operated a eight year old girl who had accidentally drank acid when she was 1.5 year old leading to her entire oesophagus being damaged since then

The rare surgery called 'gastric pull up with esophageal reconstruction' lasted for five hours and involved creating an 8-inch long incision from her abdomen to her neck to create a new passage for the food.

Neha was 1.5 year old when she drunk acid mistakenly. As per the reports when she drank acid, it damaged her entire esophagus (which is around 20 – 22 cm long), except the top parts which were around 1 – 1 1/2 cm long. She could not even swallow her own saliva as the damage was so severe.

After much struggle, she was first operated on by a Lucknow doctor. The doctor put a small tube in the intestine, which allowed her to drink liquid. However she still could not eat solid foods because the pipe was directly connected to the jejunum, last part of the digestive system.

Neha was on liquid diet since her first operation, doctors informed. In search of cure of her daughter, her parents (daily wagers) visited many hospitals and doctors but they did not get much relief as many of the doctors refused to operate on her, also due to her being severely underweight. It is reported that the 8-year old child was just 19.5 Kg.

Another challenge before the doctor came due to the acid burn itself. The acid had burned her entire oesophagus and there was just 1 cm of oesophagus left, which was a real challenge to stitch.

Finally he was operated upon by a team of doctors from VS Hospital under the guidance of Dr Hamsmukh Vora.

Dr Hasmukh Vora, Surgical Gastroenterology, VS Hospital told a local news daily, 'The rare surgery called 'gastric pull up with oesophagal reconstruction' was done on Neha. The surgery lasted for five hours which involved creating an 8-inch long incision from her stomach to her neck and was stitched to the open end of the esophagus to create a new passage for the food to reach the stomach.'

He further noted, 'Another complication was the condition of the stomach. However, luckily, when we opened her stomach for surgery, we saw that the stomach was developed according to her age and hence, the complication was less. Overall, the surgery was very smooth."