One and Half Day Old Premature Baby Gets a New Lease of Life at SPS Apollo Hospitals

Ludhiana, October 6, 2014: One and half day old premature male baby was born by LSCS (Caesarian section) in private hospital in Kotakpura. Child was having low heart rate & difficulty in breathing. So he was put on ventilator & shifted to SPS Apollo Hospitals, Ludhiana. He was immediately seen by Dr Pardeep Kumar Sharma, Senior Consultant, Department of Neonatology. Immediate management was started and patient was put on specialized ventilation technique. As patient heart rate was not improving Dr. Anurakti Dev Singla, Senior Consultant, Peadiatric Interventional Cardiologist put Temporary Pacemaker & referred the child for Permanent Pacemaker Implantation to the cardiac surgery team.
Dr. K.C. Mukherjee, Chief of Cardiac Surgery and his team evaluated the patient & decided to do the procedure. According to Dr. K. C. Mukherjee there were many challenges in performing this case. First, low weight of the child due to pre term delivery, place to put the battery of pacemaker because of small surface area, so he decided to take the help of Peadiatric General Surgeon.
After evaluating thoroughly the child was taken up for surgery by the team of Cardiac Surgeons Dr. K.C. Mukherjee & Dr. Manpreet Singh Salooja, Anesthetist Dr. Anupam Shrivastava & Dr. Manender Singla, for Permanent Pacemaker Implantation on the third day of Child’s life.
With the help of Pediatric Interventional Cardiologist, Dr. Anurakti Dev Singla & team of technician of Pacemaker Company child was taken to Cardiac OT. General anesthesia was induced. After chest and abdomen were prepared Dr. K.C. Mukherjee, gave a small incision in lower half of chest & part of heart was exposed and the pacemaker lead was fixed on surface of right ventricular with 2 & half turns. Position of lead was tested by Dr. Anurakti Dev Singla & once team was fully satisfied with the result it was fixed to heart. A pocket was made in the layers of abdomen wall to put the battery with the help of Peadiatric General Surgeon. Finally the battery was placed and it was connected to lead. After closing all the openings this delicate operation was successfully concluded.
Dr. K. C. Mukherjee further added although the procedure was very risky due to its complexity, the surgery was completed only in 45 minutes. The newborn spent about 4 weeks in NICU after surgery under the supervision of Dr. Pardeep Kumar Sharma, Sr. Consultant, Neonatology & Dr. Anurakti Dev Singla, Peadiatric Interventional Cardiologist.
 
This is just an example of a newborn receiving a pacemaker. Typically considered a rare condition Dr. Mukherjee said, each case is unique, and we have to adapt to the challenges and continue to learn from each case.
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