Doctors from the Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) at Gandhi Medical College and Hospital successfully performed a cochlear implant surgery on a 18-month-old child.
The surgery is noteworthy as it involved the youngest patient ever treated at Gandhi Hospital since the inception of the cochlear implantation clinic in August 2022. The patient, Pathloth Shivkanya, hails from Narayankhed, Sangareddy.
“The Department of ENT and Paediatrics at Gandhi Hospital conducts universal newborn hearing screening to identify children at a very young age who may benefit from cochlear implant. The ultimate goal is to optimise the child’s potential for speech and language development, enabling them to seamlessly integrate into mainstream education,” said hospital superintendent Dr. Raja Rao.
The surgical team responsible for this achievement included Dr. A Shobhan Babu, professor and head of ENT; Dr. JBS Rathod, professor of ENT; Dr. AA Khabeer, associate professor of ENT; and Dr. Deepthi, assistant professor of ENT.
The anaesthesia team, led by professor Dr. A. Muralidhar played a crucial role in ensuring the success of the procedure.