14 year old girl undergoes life changing Scoliosis Correction spine surgery at Artemis hospital Gurgaon By Dr Hitesh Garg and his Team.
Miss moza (name changed) who had a staggering 105 degrees curvature in her spine since last 10 year underwent a life changing surgery at Artemis hospital this October. The curvature was cosmetically very disfiguring and was pressing on to her internal organs like lung and impeding her normal growth.
As per the patient she wanted to get rid of this unsightly deformity which caused her a major social embarrassment. Also, recently she has started getting breathlessness which prevented her from playing.
The curved back deformity, called ‘scoliosis‘ in medical language is a condition where spine grows in a ‘S’ shaped curve initially for few years and later starts rotating which makes ribs very prominent, thus compressing the lungs. This lung compression makes it difficult for the child to breath, ultimately leading to growth retardation and in extreme cases death.
Doctors in her country (Iraq) got concerned about her normal growth in future as this condition (scoliosis) would restrict her future growth and normal life expectancy. For proper management of this deformity, she was referred to India, due to high risks involved in this surgery.
Thanks to the team of spine surgeons at Artemis hospital Gurgaon, who undertook this challenging task of performing this surgery and giving the child a new life.
Explains Dr Hitesh Garg “scoliosis surgery is a very challenging surgery. Each surgery is different and requires a details preoperative planning. We are routinely doing such surgeries at Artemis with high success rate. We were confident that we will be able to operate Ms Moza and improve her quality of life. We routinely use nerve monitoring and navigation assisted technology, which makes the surgery very safe”
The challenge in this particular surgery was that the child was only 13-year-old and for her to undergoing this complex surgery required a lot of planning beforehand.
Due to the complexity and the long duration of the surgery it was decided that the surgery would be done in 2 phase five days apart. Stage one involved loosing of contracted structures and stage two was the major corrective surgery.
Dr Himanshu Tyagi shares his experience as ” in the first stage we opened up the chest and loosened up the vertebrae form the front. This is a very challenging surgery as it involves handling the lungs and the major blood vessels of the chest. In the second stage of the surgery, we went from behind and put 23 screws in the bone around spine and corrected the curvature using 2 rods after releasing the bones at multiple points.”
The entire duration of the surgery was around 16 hours and during this 6 units of blood was transfused to her.
“We are very satisfied with the surgical correction we could give to the patient. This was a complicated surgery and the child could have landed up in complete paralysis or losing the control of urination for her entire life. We are thankful to the almighty that the child didn’t suffer any complication during the surgery and is walking upright with confidence.” added Dr Hitesh Garg .
As per mozas father ” we were very scared about the surgery, doctors in Iraq Told us about the high chances of paralysis that could happened during this surgery. Most scary thing they cautioned us about was the risk of life. As her father it was an ordeal for me to see my child growing with a crocked back which would slowly lead her to paralysis and organ damage in coming years. I am very thankful to the spine surgery team of Artemis hospital, because of their expertise today my child has a straight back and can have a normal life just like any other child of her age.”
After surgery the patient is not only having a straight back but also breathing better. She explains it as “I feel completely different, I am much straighter now and almost 3 cm taller. I can wear whatever I want without worrying about people staring at my back. “
About Dr. Hitesh Garg :
Center for spine is headed by visionary Dr. Hitesh Garg, a well renowned spine surgeon in Guragon and Delhi NCR region. He is supported by a complete team of physiotherapists, orthotists, physicians, neurologist, radiologists, neurosurgeons and anaesthetists.