Chennai: Four-year-old Bengaluru boy undergoes small intestine transplant

Chennai: A four-year old boy from Bengaluru successfully underwent a small intestine transplant at Rela Hospital here. The hospital claimed the boy was the youngest child in Asia to successfully undergo small intestine transplant.

This rare procedure was recognised by the Asia Book of Records as Asia's youngest small intestine transplant surgery, the quaternary care hospital here claimed on Tuesday.

A certificate of Asia Book of Records was handed over to Prof Dr Mohamed Rela, chairman and managing director of the city based multi-specialty hospital on Tuesday by Vivek, a representative of Asia Book of Records in the presence of Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian and Principal Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department Dr J Radhakrishnan.

According to the hospital, after the boy Guhan "suddenly developed erratic vomiting for two days" and was diagnosed to have volvulus - a rare complication in which the intestine loop twists resulting in cutting off the blood supply to that intestinal loop.

"An emergency surgery revealed that the intestinal loop has been completely necrosed (non-viable) and had to be removed. This meant that the stomach was attached to the skin...with no small intestine, whatever Guhan ate would not be digested," the hospital said.

Food taken via mouth will increase gastric secretion, resulting in dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. He was totally dependent on intravenous nutrition and was connected to infusion pump 24 hours a day to deliver the required nutrients to his body.

The boy was referred to Rela Hospital "hooked onto an infusion pump for intravenous feeding" and after medical evaluation, doctors advised intestinal transplantation as the only solution. Immediately, the boy's father Swaminathan came forward and donated a portion of his small intestine.

"The clinical team headed by Prof Mohamed Rela successfully performed this 7-hour long complex transplant surgery on September 13, 2021, during which 150 cm of the father's small intestine was transplanted to master Guhan," a release from the hospital said.

After months of total dependency on intravenous nutrition, including five weeks on external feeding post-surgery, Guhan has fully recovered. With his small intestine functioning perfectly well, he is now free to have any kind of food like other children of his age. His donor-father also resumed his routine healthy life, the hospital said.

Lauding the hospital, especially Dr Rela for the rare accomplishment, the Health Minister said he had saved the life of a 10-year old girl Janani from Salem, suffering from renal failure.

Stating that he was extremely glad to see the boy leading a normal life free from the infusion machine, Dr Rela said "small intestine transplant is rarely done in India and I appreciate the determination of the parents to get their child back to lead a normal life."