Drama at Rambam – quick response by hospital doctors saves seven-year-old
“This is a truly exceptional case."
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHHaifa’s Rambam Medical Center(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/RAMBAM MEDICAL CENTER)
A seven-year-old boy child arrived at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center’s Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital suffering from a massive hemorrhage in his digestive tract, which put his life in danger.When doctors ruled out the possibility that the cause of the hemorrhage was in the upper gastrointestinal tract, tests revealed that a large polyp – larger than three centimeters – had developed in the child’s right colon, causing massive bleeding and endangering his life. The development of a polyp of this size, at such a young age and in such a sensitive place, is very rare, and, understanding of the complexity of the situation, the medical team decided to perform a colonoscopy to remove the dangerous polyp.After the child received blood transfusions and his condition stabilized, he entered the colonoscopy room, where a pediatric gastroenterology team, along with adult gastroenterologists, worked to remove the polyp – a delicate and complex action due to the special circumstances.At the end of the procedure, the tumor, which turned out to be completely benign, was cut out and the operation was successful. After a short stay in the pediatric intensive care unit and later in the pediatric surgery department, the boy was released a few days ago when he was feeling well.“This is a truly exceptional case when the polyp, which was so unusual, actually endangered the life of a small child,” says Prof. Ron Shaul, director of the Gastroenterology Institute and the person who led the treatment.“Cooperation among the various teams (pediatric diagnostics and surgeons, radiologists, anesthesiologists, pediatric intensive care physicians and adult and pediatric gastroenterologists) and the rapid response of all the partners in the treatment undoubtedly led to this story ending well,” Shaul says.