A three-month-old infant got a new lease on life after undergoing a complex limb salvage surgery at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, where doctors removed a rare soft tissue tumour from the boy’s left thigh. Called embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, the rare tumour occurs in merely five children out of 10 lakh in the age group of 1- 4 years. The surgery on the infant was conducted in four stages, with collaboration between surgical, radiation, paediatric and oncology teams.
The doctors involved said the procedure was very high-risk. An initial surgery was conducted elsewhere for swelling where the cancer went undiagnosed. As a result, the next one at Kokilaben Hospital lasted almost eight hours.
Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma
The child’s parents reside in Thane. After birth their son’s left thigh started swelling up within six weeks. He was treated at a local hospital with imaging and attempted surgery for removal of the swelling. At Kokilaben Hospital, he was examined by Dr Manit Gundavda (orthopaedic onco-surgery).
While these tumours are very rare, they do not commonly manifest in the limbs. A board was established by Dr Gundavda under the guidance of Dr Rajesh Mistry, the surgical oncology director. The team was tasked with the removal of tumour and areas of contamination from the previous surgery, while preserving important vessels, nerves as well as growth plate of the bone to maintain limb function.
The procedure also involved the placement of brachytherapy catheters (a treatment to eliminate cancer) in the surgical bed to deliver radiation to the thigh.
