Abu Dhabi surgeons save Emirati baby in rare operation

Doctors have saved the life of a baby who had a rare birth defect, in what is being described as the first operation of its kind in the UAE.

Ahmed Al Mansouri holds his tiny son, who was saved by a team of Abu Dhabi surgeons. Courtesy Danat Al Emarat

ABU DHABI // Surgeons have successfully treated an Emirati baby boy suffering from a rare condition following a surgical first in the UAE.

Doctors at the foetal medicine unit of Danat Al Emarat Hospital said early diagnosis and emergency surgery saved the life of the infant, who suffered from a congenital malformation of the intestine that resulted in a perforated bowel and filled his abdomen with fluid.

The operation last month was complex because the condition was rare; the patient was premature and there was a large volume of fluid in his abdomen, said paediatric surgeon Dr Raja Cingapagu, who performed the operation along with a team of specialists.

The boy’s mother had visited the hospital for an assessment in the 34th week of her pregnancy. A scan showed that the baby’s abdomen was distended by fluid, a condition called foetal ascites, said Dr Gowri Ramanathan, head of obstetrics and gynaecology and director of foetal medicine.

Finding that the baby’s condition was deteriorating, doctors decided to deliver the baby in an effort to save his life.

“A number of tests were done to identify the reason for the increased accumulation of fluid in the abdomen and huge abdominal distension,” said Dr Cingapagu.

Doctors decided to conduct an emergency operation that lasted four hours, during which they identified the birth defect as a cyst that affected 15 centimetres of the baby’s bowel. The cyst caused twisting and perforation of the bowel, leading to a fluid build-up.

A delay in medical intervention could have led to gangrene in the bowel and other organs, Dr Cingapagu said, noting that the case was the third of its kind. “The first took place in 1979, and the second in 2005 in France,” he said.

After the operation, a team of neonatologists nursed the boy for two weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit. He recovered well and without complications, said Dr Cingapagu.

Ahmed Al Mansouri, the boy’s father, said early diagnosis and immediate surgery saved his son, the second child in his family.

“Thanks to Allah, he is now in good health,” he said.