6-year-old Kolkata boy with rare eye infection treated

KOLKATA: A six-year-old boy suffering from severe sinusitis with right side orbital cellulitis in his eye got his eyesight restored due to the timely medical attention via a challenging surgery at a Kolkata hospital.
Rudranjan Sinhababu can now see clearly after the procedure.
What started as a simple fever along with cold and cough in first week of December for Rudranjan worsened as it started affecting his eyes.
His parents noticed swelling in the eye, pain, redness and restricted eye movements.
When treatment at a local hospital resulted in no improvement, he was referred to Apollo Multi-speciality Hospitals to Dr Shantanu Panja on December 10.
A CT Scan revealed that the child had extensive sinusitis with right sided orbital cellulitis. Doctors said the incidence of orbital abscess in children with acute sinusitis is less than 1% termed it rare and serious condition requiring urgent surgery.
Chronic sinusitis can be caused by an infection, growths in the sinuses (nasal polyps) or swelling of the lining of sinuses. Signs and symptoms may include a blocked or stuffy (congested) nose that causes difficulty breathing through the nose, and pain and swelling around eyes, cheeks, nose or forehead. Sinusitis is usually the result of a cold or flu virus spreading to the sinuses from the upper airways.
Dr Panja and his team carried out an urgent surgery on December 12. During the endoscopic sinus surgery with orbital decompression the infective collection present inside the eye socket and sinuses were evacuated. The procedure was carried without any external cut.
“The surgery was challenging as the child was only six years old. The procedure had to be carried out in a limited working space with absolute precision so that there was no damage to the eyeball and optic nerve. We even used ear microsurgery instruments for certain steps of the surgery as they are smaller in size and can be used with finesse in a smaller area,” said Dr Panja.