Eight-limbed Baby No More After Surgery
By Express News Service - TIRUCHY
Published: 31st December 2013 07:47 AM
Last Updated: 31st December 2013 08:12 AM

The eight-limbed baby that died on Monday | EPS
Despite surgery by pediatrics at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH), the five-day-old male baby affected with parasitic pagus, a condition with asymmetric limbs died on Monday night.
The pediatric surgeon D Baskar, who performed the operation to remove the extra appendages, declared the baby dead after inspecting him at around 9 pm. The baby was kept on ventilator after the surgery performed on Monday morning.
The doctor also said the body of the baby could not be handed over the parents immediately. This kind of surgery involves possibility of severe infections in the baby's body.
There is a possibility of such infections spreading quickly to others and so it would be dangerous to take the body from the ventilator now, they said. The doctors further said the body would be handed over to the parents only after two days.
Pediatric medical officials, including an anaesthetist, performed the surgery on the five-day-old and eight-limbed infant who was admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital after a referral from a private hospital in Manapparai.
The surgery started around 10 am and lasted for three-and-half-hours after which the child was put on ventilator. "We faced a lot of difficulties during the surgery. The intestine and spleen of the baby were out. We used 'silo-technic', and the baby's intestine and spleen was reduced into the abdominal cavity," he said.
Stating that they removed two legs, two arms, one penis and hip, Baskaran said the team tried its best to save the baby. "One in ten million will have this kind of condition," said Dr Vallinayagam, Dean, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital. "The district has over 200 ultra scan centres and the parents did not go anywhere for a medical check-up. Had there been a check-up earlier, the foetus could have been terminated initially," said Dr M A Aleem, KAPV Government Medical College Vice-principal. The couple - Mamundi and Vijaya - of Manapparai taluk already have four female children and were hoping that their only son would recover soon
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