It was a life-saving team effort and it was also a race against time, but the best moment, probably, was being able to «see dad’s eyes and smile in understanding that the situation was under control” for his son Haider. The story is precisely that of little Haider, just five years old, saved after ingesting a disk battery, and it is told by Emanuela Angeli, pediatric and developmental heart surgeon of the team directed by Dr. Gaetano Gargiulo of Sant’Orsola in Bologna. In fact, the little boy was operated on at the university hospital in Bologna after an emergency transport from Ancona, the family’s province of residence. It is no coincidence that the Sant’Orsola Polyclinic Foundation and the Piccoli Grandi Cuori association also made their contribution to keep the family together during these months away from home. After very difficult moments, the little one is now well.
The first side effects
It all started months ago, when the child accidentally ingested a disk battery. Removed and treated in the region of him, However, it started to have side effects: «On the first Sunday of May we were contacted by a colleague from the Ancona hospital, who explained the child’s situation to us: he had already carried out some checks since he had previously ingested a battery and had already been treated for this reason», explained Angeli , but he was vomiting blood at the time.
«The battery had been removed but, despite this, there had been a lesion on the esophagus», added Angeli, and, at the same time, also “a very rare complication”, that is, “a communication between the esophagus and the aorta”. A complication whereby «the two walls come into contact, causing blood to pass from the aorta to the esophagus. My colleagues from the Marche region immediately understood the suspected diagnosis from the CT scan.”
The team multidisciplinary
They immediately took action to treat the child at Sant’Orsola, by virtue of a very precious collaboration: «Everything was born from a collaboration with the Ancona hospital, the result of the availability of the Irccs to support cardiac surgery for the most complex cases pediatric hospital in Ancona. This was precisely one of the cases, although it was not a purely cardiac surgical problem, but the network serves precisely this purpose, particularly in situations where there is a need for a multidisciplinary team.” Professor Mario Lima, director of pediatric surgery for esophageal problems, Professor Andrea Donti, director of pediatric and developmental cardiology, and Marta Agulli, head of the cardiopediatric anesthetists at Sant’Orsola, were therefore involved, in addition to Dr. Angeli, who were ready for Haiden’s arrival: the transport took place from Ancona to Bologna, to the Maggiore hospital, by helicopter, where he arrived «in a state of shock – he specified –. From the heliport to Sant’Orsola was even more challenging, because the child arrived in truly critical conditions.”
The intervention
Once in the room, «after resuscitation maneuvers and stabilization, the bleeding and esophagia were stopped and, in a fairly rare procedure, a stent was placed in the aorta to cover the hole from which the blood came out”, continued Angeli. In the following days the operation was followed up for the esophageal pathology and now he is fine: he will still have to continue with the checks. «The afternoon the baby arrived, I went to tell the dad not to leave for the night because we still didn’t know if the little one would be able to overcome it – said Angeli -. They were shocked, because for a battery…». This story reminds us of the importance of paying attention to potentially dangerous objects for children, but also the importance of a network between hospitals like this and of the national health system for democratic care: «Collaboration with other hospitals, strongly desired by everyone, starting from the management, is a system that pays, because it allows us to optimize times – concluded Angeli –. In caring for the child, which must be the center of all our projects, crucial minutes are optimised. Excellence allows us to treat everyone. This national health system allows us to save everyone, regardless of everything.”
