An Extreme Preterm weighing less than 500g born with multiple life threatening complications goes home in safe health

April 2023 Bengaluru: Losing hope of saving a patient, even if born extremely preterm with a weight of barely 500g, is never an option for doctors at Sakra World Hospital, one of Bangalore’s leading hospitals. Nikhil (name changed), born in August 2022 is an extreme preterm baby , weighing only about half a kilogram with multiple risk factors and other complications including respiratory distress , sepsis , apneas and severe anemia has been successfully treated and discharged home in safe health by team of doctors, led by Dr Ravi Kiran S, Senior Consultant – Pediatrics & Neonatology at Sakra World Hospital.

According to World Health Organization, an estimated 15 million babies are known to be born too early every year due to multiple reasons such as spontaneous preterm labor, medical complications during pregnancy, etc. It is also reported that approximately 1 million children die each year owing to the complications related to prematurity and that three quarters of such deaths can be prevented with optimal neonatal care

In case of Nikhil, he was born by emergency Lower segment Caesarean section (LSCS) and was intubated immediately. Upon shifting him to NICU, Nikhil was put on ventilator due respiratory distress and apneas. He also had multiple complications during his stay of 3 months in the NICU . He had almost all complications pertaining to prematurity and extreme low birth weight which includes sepsis , apneas , anemia which required prolonged antibiotics and blood transfusions . He also underwent suregery for hernia before his discharge from the hospital . Nikhil was finally discharged in January’23 weighing around 1.8 kgs In good health without any major health concerns .

Dr Ravi Kiran S, Senior Consultant – Pediatrics & Neonatology at Sakra World Hospital said, “Nikhil was born at 27+1 weeks and wasn’t fully developed as he should have been at that stage. We see children being preterm and with certain levels of complications, but Nikhil was different. No doubt that he is a wonder child who, despite all the complications, responded to our treatment and has now gone home in a stable condition, thanks to the superior scientifically augmented infrastructure that we have at Sakra’s Pediatric & Pediatric Superspecialty department.”

He continued, “Our NICU is equipped with State of art technology that can cater to high risk babies …Although Nikhil still needs to be monitored for danger signs like poor feeding, looking pale and yellow, labored breathing, bluish discoloration of body extremities and poor activities and must be rushed for checkups immediately, we are hopeful of steady growth and recovery in the time to come.”

Thanking the doctors at Sakra World Hospital, Kamya, Nikhil’s mother said, “I sincerely thank the doctors at Sakra World Hospital who helped my son survive. With the number of complications that he was born, it broke our hearts, but the doctors ensured that Nikhil got the best treatment. After four months of hard work by them, he is now recovering well, and we are celebrating his magical and miraculous existence in our lives every moment.”