Chennai, October 20th, 2021: A two-year-old boy baby from Calicut, Kerala has miraculously regained consciousness, survived and recovered fully without organ transplantation, thanks to ECMO support service provided by Rela Hospital, a Multi-Speciality Quaternary Care Hospital at Chromepet. Master Adhvik, the two-year-old boy from Calicut slipped into Coma due to multi-organ failure and was suffering from Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The baby had a high fever in the initial stage, and it was predicted to be a liver failure by a paediatrician in his hometown and so was referred to Rela Hospital for higher care and treatment. The child was in a mild coma when he was shifted to Rela Hospital and was in nasal O2, as the oxygen level was decreasing day by day and he was given 60% O2 with a viral illness and lung infection at the time of admission. The multi-disciplinary team spearheaded byDr Ravikumar & Dr Arumugam along with the experienced Paediatric Intensive Care Team at Rela Hospital aided in the incredible recovery of this baby to a stable condition without an organ transplant.
Baby Adhvik was diagnosed with encephalopathy and suspected liver failure, had very high INR and his sensorium was very low. The Initial lab reports at Rela hospital revealed that the baby had a multi-organ failure and was shifted to ventilator support as his oxygen level was deteriorating. Liver function and encephalopathy improved during the course of the treatment however his lungs was progressively worsening. The clinical team put Master Adhvik thru various approaches before finally putting him in ECMO.
ECMO in children are complicated as the insertion of the ECMO cannulas are through neck vessels which go directly to the heart said Dr Arumugam, Senior Consultant – Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery, Heart and Lung Transplantation, Rela Hospital. As the baby oxygen level wasn’t improving despite all possible treatments, we decided to put him on ECMO as the infection percentage was more in his lungs compared to other organs. Post ECMO, he showed an immense improvement, his lungs started improving and simultaneously he was given supportive care where his other organs also started improving and soon, he was out of danger and we were able to take him out of ECMO within 10 days, added Dr Arumugam
Rehabilitation procedures by Doctors at Rela Hospital with continuous Physio and proper diet under tracheostomy helped the baby to recover fast and after a couple of weeks, the baby was out of tracheostomy and he is doing good now said Dr Ravikumar, Senior Consultant, Paediatric Intensive Care, Rela Hospital. Rela Hospital. Master Adhvik’s Parents supported and cooperated with us and agreed to all the procedures which made the boy come to his normalcy added Dr Ravikumar
ECMO has become a saviour of sorts for critically ill patients and in this particular case, ECMO has definitely helped this baby recover fast from lung infection and also avoided organ transplantation saidProf. Mohamed Rela, Chairman & Managing Director, Rela Hospital. This shows how an experienced pediatric intensive care unit and expertise ECMO unit can save lives even in the last minutes. I applaud the entire team of Rela Hospital including the doctors, nurses, and technicians, for their well-coordinated efforts in saving baby Adhvik’s life without any organ transplant added Prof Mohamed Rela
