Doctors of MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur, Odisha, proved their mettle by performing a rare surgery on a six-year-old boy, who was suffering from an unusual growth of bumps and black hair on his body.
The boy, Kanha Nayak, is the son of a labourer Ramchandra Nayak of Baghua village under Jagannathprasad block in Ganjam district and has been suffering from the rare disease since birth. Doctors at Jagannathprasad had given up hope and said that the boy would not survive. However, Kanha survived but was ridiculed by kids in the village for his unusual appearance.
The boy’s plight was highlighted in the media and the Chief Minister’s Office apprised of the youngster’s condition. The Block Development Officer of Jagannathprasad, moved by the boy’s plight, took the initiative and admitted him to MKCG Medical. The district administration chipped in and assured to meet the expenses for Kanha’s treatment.
Once the boy was admitted to the premier hospital, several tests were conducted following which the head of plastic surgery department of MKCG Medical Dr Rajoo Dash decided to perform a surgery to remove the additional growth from the boy’s body. He said Kanha is suffering from Giant Congenital Melanocytic Nevus, in which the patient suffers from abnormally dark, non-cancerous patches on the skin since birth.
Dr Dash said it is feasible to operate upon patients who have such patches on 1 to 5 per cent of the body. But 40 per cent of Kanha’s body was covered with bumps and hair. He said in this case, surgery has to be conducted in phases. The first phase of the surgery was conducted by a team of 12 doctors. Dr Dash said the skin collected from Kanha’s thigh was grafted in the affected places. The surgery took around six hours.
