First surgery on child with hemagioma tumor 'successful', more required

Doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, or DMCH, have successfully completed the first surgery on Satkhira girl Muktamoni’s hemangioma tumour.

She is currently under observation and will require a few more rounds of surgery before the tumour is completely removed, doctors said.

The 12-year-old was taken to the operation theatre at 8:20am on Saturday.

A 20-member team was involved in the complicated procedure, said DMCH Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit Coordinator Samanta Lal Sen.

“We are not certain if we can save her arm,” he said before the surgery. “We must conduct tests and see how we can proceed.”

Around 11:15am, doctors emerged from the operating room to speak to the media.

“We have had an initial success. We have saved the arm and removed the diseased tissue,” said Sen.

The arm is currently in ‘good’ condition, he said.

However, five or six more surgeries will be needed, according to Sen.

Dhaka Medical College Plastic Surgery Division chief Prof Md Abul Kalam agreed.

“There need to be five to six more operations, including skin grafting. We will take a week to 10 days between each surgery.”

“Our objective was to preserve the right arm. Thanks to everyone's cooperation.”

Asked whether the child was completely out of danger, Kalam said they were yet to treat the affected areas on the chest and shoulder. "We will remove those, but it will take some time."

He said the "aggressive infections on the arm" have been removed. "She will be kept under observation for the next 4-5 days before we decide on the next step.”

“Doctors have told us that she will get better after the operation,” said the child's mother Ayesha Khatun, who was waiting outside the operation theatre with her husband.

An initial examination suggested the disease could be ‘hyperkeratosis’ or skin cancer, said Satkhira Medical College Assistant Professor Md Nasiruddin. And Samanta Lal Sen had agreed.

Doctors later concluded that a tumour had formed in the girl’s blood vessels due to a disease called hemangioma following a biopsy on Aug 5.

Muktamoni's parents noticed a tiny red bump on her right arm when she was one and a half years old, said her father Ibrahim Hossain.

For the next four years, the bump grew big hampering her movement, he said.

Her arm eventually became heavier than the rest of her body, which apparently shrivelled in comparison.

The state took responsibility for Muktamoni’s medical care after her story was reported in the media. She was admitted to the DMCH on Jul 11.