16-month-old Infant Donate Organs, Give Life To Two Kids

A little soul gave life to two other kids. A 16-month-old toddler, who suffered a head injury after a fall, could not make it. The infant became a lifeline for two other kids, to whom his kidneys and liver were donated. Doctors of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi performed the challenging organ transplant surgery. 

The kid was declared brain dead on August 25. He was admitted to AIIMS on August 17 post-injury. The family agreed to donate his kidneys and liver to two other children. Besides, the heart valves and corneas are preserved at the organ bank.

Infant donate organs

The  kidneys were given to a 5-year-old boy. The boy was suffering from renal failure and was on dialysis. According to doctors, the boy became the youngest patient in India to receive en-bloc kidney transplantation, wherein two kidneys with blood vessels from the same donor were transplanted into a single recipient. This procedure is complex and rare compared among children to adults.

Dr. Manjunath Pol, who conducted the surgery said, “In children, the blood vessels are thin and delicate. It requires precision to attach the whole renal set-up, including kidneys, to a child."

“There was no room for even a minor error. The vessels were very small and there was a risk of blockages, which could lead to graft kidney failure. Also, the length of the donor’s ureter was small and the urinary bladder was underdeveloped. Any tension during the surgery would have led to a ureter tear. The surgeons also faced difficulty in getting the right equipment," added Dr. Pol.

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The challenges faced during surgery were minimising blood loss, and setting up the kidneys, as per a report. 

Dr. Sandeep Aggarwal, head of the surgery unit at AIIMS, said, "The recipient is close to recovery. He is happy to go back to school and play."

Speaking about the deceased kid, Dr. Deepak Gupta, professor of neurosurgery, said, "The child fought for eight days. He was born to donate.”

Earlier, Rolly Prajapati, a six-year-old girl from Noida, became the youngest organ donor at the AIIMS, Delhi. Prajapati died due to a gunshot wound on April 27. Prajapati's liver was donated to a 7-year-old child from Lucknow and her kidneys to a 12-year-old. Girl's corneas were harvested and given to two adults. She continued to breathe life in them.