Nikhil Anil
India’s health tourism is picking up. While public healthcare centers offer treatment free of cost to Indian residents, many private hospitals have emerged commendably as health tourism destinations.
This has been due to the Indian medical infrastructure and high-quality treatment, which is also available at cheaper rates compared to other parts of the world.
These factors proved helpful in saving life of a young baby from Iraq recently. He had a very low chance of survival otherwise.
Nine-month-old Ali Hamad was born with a rare liver complication, something which required nothing less than a transplant. His parents looked everywhere for some hope, but no hospital took him in.
The couple had earlier given birth to three babies, but died. Their symptoms were almost the same.
The transplant is a very risky procedure to be done on a baby less than one-year-old and chances of survival are very slim, hence the hospitals were reluctant to admit Ali.
He was finally admitted into Manipal Hospital in New Delhi.
The main concern when it comes to a liver transplant is the blood supply to the organ. In case of paediatric (child) patients, there are always high risks of cardiovascular complications.
Due to complications with reconstructing the portal vein, Dr. Sailendra Lalwani, the head of the liver transplant and hepato-pancreatic-biliary surgery department, and a team of doctors decided to go for an iliac vein graft.
“The baby underwent the transplant On January 3. There was no flow in the portal vein. We placed the interposition vein graft to give inflow to the liver. After the surgery the baby was shifted to ICU on a ventilator,” said Dr. Lalwani.
Ali, however, responded to the treatment and was off the ventilator the very next day. After 20 days of surgery he was finally discharged from the hospital.
Ali’s mother had donated a part of her liver for the transplant. Ali’s cure was nothing less than a miracle for his parents. They had caught it right on time and were able to take action at the earliest possible moment, thus saving their son’s life.