The Kozhikode unit of the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association (KGMCTA) has refuted reports that a wrong surgery was performed on a four-year-old child from Kozhikode at the Government Medical College Hospital on Thursday.
A release quoting KGMCTA functionaries C. Krishnan and Abdul Basith said that a tongue tie, a condition that restricts the tongue’s range of motion, was detected in the child when she was brought for the surgery to remove her additional finger on Thursday. They claimed that the parents might not have noticed it earlier. If it was left unaddressed, the child could have faced speech problems in the future. It would be difficult to treat the condition after the complete development of speech faculty.
Thus, removing the tongue tie was given preference over the sixth finger. As the parents insisted that the surgery on the finger be done then itself, that procedure was performed subsequently. The doctors claimed that the parents were convinced about it later. The KGMCTA functionaries also pointed out that the action against Bejohn Johnson, Associate Professor attached to the Paediatrics department, was unfortunate.
