Hyderabad: Suffering from any deformity for lifelong is a bane for anyone. Getting proper treatment for that and coming out of that will be possible only with the help of experienced doctors. The same goes the story of six-year old Greeshmika, who was suffering from Congenital Scoliosis by birth.
The Doctors of KIMS Kondapur gave her a new life and rescued her from this terrible situation. Greeshmika and her family members felt relieved after this. Her parents brought her to KIMS in March this year. After keen observation and analysis, Dr. K Sri Krishna Chaitanya identified that she had this condition by birth. This case being a very complicated one, the girl needs to be operated on several times and the rods must be elongated at intervals till she attains an age of 13 years. As the length of her spinal cord increases, the length of rods must also be elongated. Only then, can this be cured completely. One in two thousand will suffer with this problem.
Speaking about this explained, Dr. Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Spine surgeon, KIMS Kondapur, “This is a very complicated and challenging surgery. The only option in this situation is to perform surgery. Because of this congenital scoliosis, Greeshmika was not able to dance, or swim, or play in the water.
As a result of congenital scoliosis, she became shorter and her lungs contracted and she could not even breathe properly. The right side of the body was deformed and lungs were not formed properly. The left lung could not expand anymore because there is not enough space for the heart and lungs.
Her heart and left lung also contracted. This resulted in a lack of growth and inability to take food. This issue was identified when she was three years old. She was able to walk at the age of three. Then, her parents observed an abnormality in her walking. From then, they have been taking her to different pediatricians and general physicians. They prescribed some medicines and postponed this. Finally, her parents decided to get her operated when she was five. To arrange financials and come to the hospital, it took around six to eight months for them.
Here, we used Telescopic rods which facilitate the elongation of a rod by estimating the girl’s growth. This can be done with minor surgeries. With special instruments, the procedure can be completed within a day and she can leave by evening itself. This needs to be done every year until she gets to the age of 13 or 14 years.”
“We performed the first surgery in March 2019 during which anchor screws were placed in D3/D4 and L3/L4. The second surgery was performed this month which was an expansion process of those screws. It was a six-hour procedure. We got a very good correction. We used Intra Operative neural monitoring and 3D printing and monitoring to improve safety. With the help of an anesthesia team, we have successfully completed the surgery. These kinds of surgeries require best hospitals endowed with the right infrastructure and a team of highly experienced doctors with tremendous patience, perseverance, teamwork,” says Dr Sai Laxman Anne, Head of the Orthopaedic and Spine Surgery Department.