The Pediatric Surgery team removed it with a totally minimally invasive method
a mass that occupied almost 50% of the abdominal cavity.
The little patient is doing well and was discharged two days after the operation.
It is a story with a happy ending that comes from the hospital of Vicenza, where in recent days a pediatric surgery team conducted a delicate operation on a newborn baby who was born with a voluminous mass that occupied almost 50% of the abdominal cavity, enough to compress the right ovary and the intestine, having now completely enveloped the colon and the appendix.
«The diagnosis was already made in the prenatal phase – explains Dr. Salvatore Fabio Chiarenza, Director of Pediatric Surgery at the Vicenza hospital – therefore the mother and the baby had been followed with the utmost attention during the last stages of the pregnancy and we were already ready to intervene: after the birth, the baby was kept in observation for 5 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, but when we observed that in this period of time the mass had further increased in volume, starting to cause symptoms of occlusion, therefore with problems in the child’s feeding, we intervened immediately.”
The surgical procedure lasted approximately 2 and a half hours and was conducted with the most advanced minimally invasive surgery techniques, making three micro incisions (only 3 mm in diameter) on the newborn’s very small abdomen. «Through the navel – explains Dr. Clarity – we inserted a microcamera, therefore we isolated the mass from the intestine, separating it from the colon and the appendix which were now incorporated, and we managed to preserve not only the intestine but also the ovary, for the benefit of the future fertility of the patient. Precisely thanks to the use of the minimally invasive method, the post-surgery recovery was very rapid, so much so that after two days the little girl was breastfed without difficulty and it was possible to discharge her.”
Precisely the laparoscopic execution constitutes the exceptional element of the operation: in fact throughout Italy there are very few centers that perform neonatal surgery with a totally minimally invasive method. In this regard, the Vicenza hospital is recognized as a regional Reference Center for Minimally Invasive Pediatric Surgery and Urology and in general it is a reference structure at a national and European level in this field, so much so that it attracts young patients (and their parents) who are not only from other regions but also from abroad.
Every year around 1400 operations are performed by the San Bortolo Pediatric Surgery, of which around 500 are minimally invasive; in fact, almost all intracavitary interventions (thoracic, gastroenterological, urological) are carried out with minimally invasive and/or endoscopic techniques.
«We wanted to talk about this intervention to give parents a message of trust and hope – comments Dr. Patrizia Simionato, General Director of ULSS 8 Berica -. They must know that the Vicenza hospital has the most advanced skills to deal with even highly complex interventions, using the most advanced methods, with respect to which the case studies collected over the years are of absolute importance. I also want to underline that Pediatric Surgery represents a department of excellence also because it is located within a hospital where particular attention is dedicated to the care of newborns and children, with high level professionalism. Within the Maternal-Child Department, this ensures that even the most delicate surgical cases are addressed in the best possible way, because the management takes place through a highly specialized multidisciplinary team and, as in this case, the process often begins already during pregnancy with prenatal diagnosis”.
«Thanks to these minimally invasive surgical techniques – concludes Dr. Clarity – we are able to offer even newborns greater surgical accuracy and at the same time an excellent post-operative recovery.”
