The Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Idi-Araba has successfully performed the first thoracoscopy surgery on a 13-day-old baby.
Dorcas Shola, 13 days old, underwent limited access surgery to remove food particles that were impeding the free passage of food in her tubes.
It was the first to be carried out at LUTH.
A thoracoscopy is a medical or surgical technique that is used to diagnose or treat problems with the lungs, esophagus, or thymus gland.
It is a minimally invasive surgical procedure used to diagnose and treat chest issues.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Prof. Wasiu Adeyemo, Chief Medical Director of LUTH, described the medical term as thoracoscopy primary repair of esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula.
He said the patient was referred to the hospital after being diagnosed with a life-threatening health problem barely 13 days after birth, and that little surgery was performed in the baby’s chest to remove the ailment.
He credited the surgery’s success to the availability of Federal Government-provided equipment and personnel resources capable of performing the surgery.
Dr Felix Alakaloko, the surgeon who conducted the surgery on Shola, stated that children with the illness from birth had difficulties digesting their food due to a blockage in the esophagus, and that a lack of sufficient treatment might result in death.
He noted that spilling breast milk from the baby’s nostrils or mouth was a symptom. Alakaloko revealed that the surgery was a herculean task.
“Operating babies is very difficult because the tube that carries food is in the chest, so that means we are going to work on the chest of a newborn child to reconnect the tube and the space is very small, so when you have to cut them open you endanger the patient as well as trying to help the patient because the patient will go through a lot of trauma,” he said.
The mother of the baby, Adeyinka Shola, said, “They try for us because this is the first of such surgery in the hospital and I am thankful to God for the success.”
