Perform 12-hr-long rare surgery to cure deafness in 4-year-old child
Army doctors have performed a rare surgery lasting more than 12 hours to cure profound deafness of a four-year-old daughter of a serving soldier. She has become the first child in the armed forces or any Government organisation to receive an Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI).
Giving details of the complex medical procedure, Army officials said on Monday the surgery was performed at the Army Hospital Research and Referral here.
Explaining the significance of the operation, they said most childhood deafness wherein the defect is in the cochlea is addressed with a cochlear implant.
However, this child had no cochlea or the auditory nerves at birth, thus the only option to rehabilitate her was to surgically place an ABI at the seat of hearing within the brain.
The cutting edge technology of auditory brainstem implantation is still at its nascent stages across the world.
The team of ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeons, neurosurgeons, neuro anesthetists and audiologists completed this surgery in around 12 hours.
The device will be switched on six weeks post surgery. This will be followed by intense rehabilitation. With that, the child will gain auditory awareness and hopefully develop speech.
This will help the child in integration with mainstream schooling thereby becoming a productive member of society in years to follow, they said.
