New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) A 16-year-old Delhi boy weighing nearly 275 kg underwent a successful bariatric surgery at a city hospital after being admitted with severe breathing difficulty, obstructive sleep apnoea and extensive skin infection, doctors said.
The teenager’s body mass index was approaching 100, according to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
He was bought to the hospital in a matador as he could not fit into a conventional car and was admitted to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit for nearly two weeks, where he was treated for respiratory and other complications before being considered fit for surgery.
The extreme obesity and associated complications made the case high-risk, requiring assessment by nearly 20 specialists from paediatric critical care, bariatric surgery, paediatric gastroenterology, cardiology, anaesthesia and other specialties, doctors said.
The medical team assessed the risks associated with anaesthesia, positioning, laparoscopic access and postoperative respiratory care before deciding that bariatric surgery offered the best available option to address his severe obesity and related complications.
The teenager underwent a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, a procedure in which a large portion of the stomach is removed to reduce its size, performed by doctors from the Institute of Minimal Access, Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
“This was not a routine bariatric operation. The patient’s age, weight and severe sleep apnoea meant that every step had to be carefully planned,” said Dr Daksh Sethi, Lead Bariatric Surgeon at the hospital.
The multidisciplinary team included paediatric critical care, anaesthesia, gastroenterology, cardiology and bariatric surgery specialists. Dr Anil Sachdev, Head of Paediatric Critical Care, was involved in the patient’s optimisation and intensive-care management, while Dr Nishant Wadhwa performed the preoperative upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and Dr Neeraj Aggarwal conducted the cardiac assessment.
Despite the technical challenges posed by the patient’s weight, the surgery was completed successfully and he was discharged three days after the procedure, according to the hospital.
The teenager’s weight has since fallen from around 275 kg to 223 kg, a reduction of nearly 50 kg, approximately two months after the surgery.
Doctors said the aim was not only weight loss but also improvement in his mobility, sleep apnoea, cardiovascular and metabolic health and overall quality of life.
“In a patient this young with such severe obesity, our priority was to look beyond immediate weight loss and focus on improving his long-term health and quality of life,” said Dr Sudhir Kalhan, Chairman of the Institute of Minimal Access, Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
The teenager continues to be monitored by a multidisciplinary team and is undergoing a structured weight-management programme focused on sustained weight reduction, improved mobility and long-term health outcomes, the hospital said. PTI SGV SGV MDO MDO
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