6 Hour Long Surgery, Extra Limbs Off, Baby Normal

Bangalore, Jul 9 (DC): One-year-old Vittal underwent a six-hour long surgery at the Narayana Women and Children Institute on Thursday to remove the two extra limbs he was born with, a rare condition called Dipygus seen only in 15 cases worldwide.

The toddler was brought to the city by his family from Mahaveerpura village in Madhya Pradesh after the government district hospital near Gwalior, where he was born, did not hold out much hope for his recovery.

“We tried to find the right hospital to treat him, but it took us a year to find doctors here who assured us that our son could be operated on,” said the boy’s aunt, Krishna, explaining that Vittal was the youngest of three children and his father, Manoj was physically handicapped.

“The family runs on a pension of Rs 2,200 that Vittal’s grandmother gets. But we still tried to give Vittal the best possible medical care and fortunately we were directed to this hospital,” she added. Vittal’s mother, Pinky had fasted since Wednesday as an appeal to the gods to help her son during his surgery.

Doctors said although the case looked formidable, advanced technology had made it possible for such people to lead a normal life today. “The challenge was to separate the redundant parts and other muscle and soft tissues without affecting the child’s urine and motion control activities,” said Dr Ashley D’Cruz, senior consultant paediatric surgeon and urologist.