Blocked windpipes in kids on rise: Docs
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai: 12.05.2018
As a group of parents waited for doctors to troop in to attend a programme at a city hospital on Friday, their ears pricked up every time they heard a slight hoarseness in the childlike voices around them. They knew what this meant: these were children who knew what it felt like to have a noose around their neck even without having one.
Blocked airways among children are on the rise, say doctors. And at least 80% of these cases require endoscopy or open surgery.
On Friday, doctors at Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital (KKCTH) met the families of children who had undergone treatment for blocked trachea (windpipe), many of who were brought back from the brink of death.
Aarthi, a Class IX student from Salem, was one of them. Upset after being chided by her parents, she consumed poison three years ago. “She was in coma for close to a month and required external assistance to breathe,” said Dr S Thirunavukkarasu, consultant airway surgeon at the hospital. While the ventilator helped her breathe as she recovered, what doctors didn’t anticipate is her trachea constricting once the ventilator was removed. “We had to undertake an open surgery. We cut the blocked part and sutured the healthy halves,” he said, describing Aarthi’s case as one of the hospital’s most challenging.
Airways in children can be blocked because of accidental ingestion of toxic substances, accidents, congenital conditions and low birth weight.
Doctors say one of the reasons for the increase in airway obstruction among children could be because of more pre-term and low weight babies being saved with advancement in medical technology. “We now save children who weigh even 700 grams. These children are on ventilators for two months or more. This could lead to narrowing of airways,” said Dr S Balasubramanian, director of KKCTH. Over the last five years, the hospital has done 182 surgeries on children with blocked or constricted trachea, 60 of which were complicated. One of them was operated after he accidentally inhaled a button battery.
Children present had symptoms like rapid, noisy or high-pitched breathing, gagging and difficulty in swallowing or complete inability to swallow, pain in the neck, chest or abdomen.
However, not all children who face this problem have access to adequate healthcare. Doctors said high cost of management, lack of awareness among healthcare professionals, and limited availability of equipment in the country continue to be a challenge for doctors and patients at various facilities in the country.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai: 12.05.2018
As a group of parents waited for doctors to troop in to attend a programme at a city hospital on Friday, their ears pricked up every time they heard a slight hoarseness in the childlike voices around them. They knew what this meant: these were children who knew what it felt like to have a noose around their neck even without having one.
Blocked airways among children are on the rise, say doctors. And at least 80% of these cases require endoscopy or open surgery.
On Friday, doctors at Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital (KKCTH) met the families of children who had undergone treatment for blocked trachea (windpipe), many of who were brought back from the brink of death.
Aarthi, a Class IX student from Salem, was one of them. Upset after being chided by her parents, she consumed poison three years ago. “She was in coma for close to a month and required external assistance to breathe,” said Dr S Thirunavukkarasu, consultant airway surgeon at the hospital. While the ventilator helped her breathe as she recovered, what doctors didn’t anticipate is her trachea constricting once the ventilator was removed. “We had to undertake an open surgery. We cut the blocked part and sutured the healthy halves,” he said, describing Aarthi’s case as one of the hospital’s most challenging.
Airways in children can be blocked because of accidental ingestion of toxic substances, accidents, congenital conditions and low birth weight.
Doctors say one of the reasons for the increase in airway obstruction among children could be because of more pre-term and low weight babies being saved with advancement in medical technology. “We now save children who weigh even 700 grams. These children are on ventilators for two months or more. This could lead to narrowing of airways,” said Dr S Balasubramanian, director of KKCTH. Over the last five years, the hospital has done 182 surgeries on children with blocked or constricted trachea, 60 of which were complicated. One of them was operated after he accidentally inhaled a button battery.
Children present had symptoms like rapid, noisy or high-pitched breathing, gagging and difficulty in swallowing or complete inability to swallow, pain in the neck, chest or abdomen.
However, not all children who face this problem have access to adequate healthcare. Doctors said high cost of management, lack of awareness among healthcare professionals, and limited availability of equipment in the country continue to be a challenge for doctors and patients at various facilities in the country.
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