Doctors perform rare surgery on infant with tripod deformity in Ludhiana

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 16

A city hospital performed a rare surgery on an one-year-old boy with tripod deformity, i.e. a third leg arising from the back. The deformity was seemingly due to parasitic siamese twins that were not compatible with life.

Clinically, the child was conscious and oriented and can walk on his two legs, while his third leg also shows normal neurological responses.

The patient from Haibowal was brought to Deep Hospital in Ludhiana by a NGO where he was diagnosed by Dr Baldeep Singh, Head, Paediatrics Department, Deep Hospital.

Surgery which took six hours was performed yesterday at the hands of four expert teams of the Hospital, comprising neurosurgeon Dr RK Kaushal, Head of Department, Neurosurgery, Orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Mohammad Yamin, HOD, Orthopaedics, and Paediatric surgeon, Dr RJ Singh, HOD, Paediatric Surgery and Dr Tah, Senior Consultant, Plastic Surgeon.

“This is the first of its kind surgery to be done in Punjab till date and the third such case in the country, with the previous two surgeries reportedly having happened at the AIIMS, Delhi, many years ago,” said Dr Baldeep.

“The boy had a birth defect where an additional rudimentary leg was arising from the back in addition to the two normal legs. The third leg was neurologically intact although the power in that leg was reduced. This ‘Tripod Deformity’ is seemingly due to a parasitic Siamese twin, the body of which degenerated leaving the leg behind in the other twin, which fused with the back of the baby,” said Dr Yamin.

The patient had undergone an MRI scan which showed the presence of Femur tibia fibula and the knee joint in the additional leg. After reaching this diagnosis, a decision was made by the expert team of doctors at Deep Hospital to remove this leg. The surgery required a multi-disciplinary approach with the involvement of 4 departments working together, said Dr RJ Singh.

“The patient is currently in the paediatric ICU and is recovering as per expectation,” said Dr Kaushal. 

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