Kochi, November 3, 2015:Venkeesh, a one year old child from Sri Lanka was born with a swelling on the right side of face. As numerous doctors whom the parents initially consulted gave varied opinions as to the reason for the swelling and on the required treatment, the swelling continued to grow. The child’s face became highly disproportional, with the cheek bone and lateral wall of the bony orbit (bony cavity where the eye is seated) expanding considerably because of the pressure due to the growing swelling.
All the doctors consulted were of the opinion that an incision across the face was needed to remove the swelling entirely, and even then complete removal of the same cannot be guaranteed. The surgical risk was assessed to be of grave nature. The parents were little hesitant as the scar left after the operation would mean more cosmetic deformity. They then contacted Mr.Prakash S, Medical coordinator of Aster Medcity hospital, Kochi. He facilitated a consultation with Dr. Sherry Peter, Lead Consultant, Department of Craniomaxillofacial Surgery, of the hospital.
The family along with the child reached Kochi soon and after a multi team evaluation of the child by doctors drawn from hospital’s Departments of Craniomaxillofacial Surgery, Surgical Oncology, Neurosurgery, Pediatrics, Plastic Surgery, Anesthesiology & Radiology, the decision to operate the child was made. Since the swelling was situated on the side of face and head, the incision to remove it would have to be in a cosmetically hidden area to prevent any scars appearing later. Hence the swelling was approached through an incision sufficiently hidden by the hair. The surgical team was successful in removing the swelling completely after long operation to everybody’s great relief.
The surgical & anesthesia team included Drs. Sherry Peter & Latha P Rao of Craniomaxillofacial surgery, Syam Vikram of surgical Oncology, Paul George of Plastic surgery, Suresh G Nair, Jithendra& Ajay of Anesthesiology.
