Special equipment to treat kids’ respiratory ailments at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: On the occasion of its 9th foundation day, AIIMS Bhubaneswar on Thursday inaugurated ECMO and paediatric flexible bronchoscopy treatment facilities. It is the first government hospital in Odisha to install the advanced medical equipment.
A bronchoscope is used to diagnose and treat respiratory diseases, much like an endoscope for gastrointestinal diseases. Now, most of the hospitals and medical colleges use the flexible adult bronchoscope to diagnose and treat paediatric respiratory diseases, but using the adult bronchoscope is challenging when it is used on children.
“Our paediatric flexible bronchoscopy, the first of its kind in Odisha, will immensely help children of all age groups with various types of respiratory diseases,” said Gitanjali Batmanabane, director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, while inaugurating the service.
The facility has been created in the department of paediatrics and started operation from Thursday itself. ”We are committed to providing optimum care for children during the anticipated third wave. This facility will help us immensely,” said Samarendra Mahapatro, head of paediatrics department, AIIMS Bhubaneswar.
He said children who have recovered from Covid may face symptoms post recovery and the paediatric bronchoscopy will be of great help to treat such patients.
Similarly, the institution inaugurated a high-end extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine (first in a public hospital in Odisha). It will be made functional within a week, said an official.