Hyderabad: A baby born at just 28 weeks of gestation, weighing only 760 grams and having intestinal perforation, was discharged in a healthy condition from Apollo Cradle and Children's Hospital on Saturday.
After two months of intensive care in the neonatal intensive care unit, the baby now weighs 1.5 kg. The baby faced immediate challenges from birth with pneumoperitoneum due to intestinal perforation found on the third day of birth.
Dr K Lalatendu Kumar, paediatric surgeon at the hospital, said the newborn faced challenges while taking the feed and was haemodynamically stable, as a peritoneal drain (thin tube in the abdomen) was placed initially which was later taken for laparotomy in view of rapid increase in abdominal distention.
"A large gastric wall perforation was seen and a feeding jejunostomy (tube to allow feeding through small intestine) was inserted. The feed was then increased gradually as per the infant's tolerance," he recalled.
During the course of stay in the hospital, the baby also developed abdominal distension, a potentially life-threatening condition. "Despite the grave concern, we successfully performed a laparotomy to repair the large gastric wall perforation and then placed the jejunostomy tube to facilitate feeding," he added.