Complicated surgery at NICVD saves life of nine-year-old boy

Doctors at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) performed a complicated surgery on Monday to save the life a nine-year-old boy. Four medical professionals, including two paediatric cardiac surgeons, of the NICVD participated in the operation that lasted one and a half hours.

The boy, Arsalan, was badly injured as a screwdriver had pierced through his chest near the heart. Earlier, doctors associated with different private and public hospitals had refused to perform the surgery because of its life-threatening nature.

The parents of the boy said Arsalan was living at his maternal uncle’s house, adding that children there were playing with a screwdriver, which pierced through his chest as he was running. The injured child was taken by his parents to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and the National Institute of Child Health, where the doctors refused to treat him.

Later, the boy was taken to the NICVD, where paediatric cardiologist Dr Abdul Sattar examined him and recommended that surgery should be performed on him on an emergency basis. The other doctors who took part in the life-saving surgery included paediatric surgeons Dr Sohail Bangash and Dr Iqbal and paediatric cardiologist Dr Najma Patel.

After the surgery, Dr Sattar said that it was a complicated operation, as the screwdriver had pierced through the boy’s chest at a point from where veins connected to his heart and brain were passing.

He said the doctors of the NICVD performed the surgery with full expertise and saved the life of the boy. The minor is still at the hospital and recovering after the doctors ensured that his life is out of danger, as any further delay in the complicated surgery could have endangered his life.