Wrocław docs give Irish baby life-changing surgery
Doctors from the University Teaching Hospital in Wrocław have successfully carried out a complex throat operation on a six month old baby from Ireland.
Toddler Olivia W. had been receiving treatment in Dublin but the specialists there felt they were unable to help the youngster who suffered from problems caused by an overgrown oesophagus, the tube that connects the throat with the stomach.
Baby Olivia suffered from problems caused by an overgrown oesophagus, the tube that connects the throat with the stomach.
The problem had prevented her from eating normally and she had to be fed by a tube that went directly into her stomach.
For the first time in her short life, she was able to drink milk from a bottle after the successful operation.
Prof. Dariusz Patkowski, Head of the Department of Paediatric Surgery and Urology at the University Teaching Hospital in Wrocław has performed the surgery over 200 times.
Prof. Dariusz Patkowski, Head of the Department of Paediatric Surgery and Urology at the university said: “We reach the oesophagus through the back surface of the chest, creating holes several millimetres in diameter, through which we insert a miniature camera and surgical instruments.
“For a toddler, the operating space is only 2x2 cm. Thanks to thoracoscopy, we can see this area on the monitors magnified several times, which makes it easier to perform the procedure precisely.”
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He added: “The thoracoscopic method is complicated but it is most beneficial for the child. It does not leave any permanent traces and the patient recovers faster.”
The girl and her mother who asked not to be named had to stay in Wrocław for a month as she had four operations in total.
She returned to Ireland a couple of days ago.
The girl and her mother had to stay in Wrocław for a month as she had four operations in total.
Professor Patkowski was the first surgeon in Poland to perform this type of surgery in 2004, since then he has performed the surgery over 200 times.
He has even gone abroad to teach the procedure to doctors in Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, Kuwait and Egypt.
