Maharashtra post COVID-19 paediatric intestine transplant case featured in transplant journal

Jupiter Hospital surgeons had performed a successful paediatric living donor intestine transplant following an atypical complication of COVID-19

COVID-19 infection rarely causes gastrointestinal complications but in a rare case, a nine-year-old boy from Maharashtra was successfully operated on in November 2020 for what is reportedly one of the state’s first paediatric intestinal gangrene cases caused due to COVID-19.

The child developed small bowel gangrene after recovering from mild COVID-19 infection due to mesenteric artery thrombosis. In addition, several secondary infections in the abdominal area added to the complexity of the case.

The relatively unique paediatric intestine transplant case had been accepted for publication by the American Journal of Transplantation and can now be accessed at http://doi.org/10.1111/ajt.16798

The transplant case was performed by a team of surgeons from Jupiter Hospital, Thane, Mumbai led by Dr Gaurav Chaubal, Director of Multi-organ Transplantation Surgery.

Explaining the implications of this case, Dr Ajay Thakker, CMD, Jupiter Hospital, Pune said, “This case was indeed a big challenge to our experts, but we successfully performed a unique paediatric transplant. The success also proves that living donor small bowel transplant is a viable option to treat selected patients affected by the irreversible intestinal failure.”

“The infection led to resection of the entire necrotic small bowel along with caecum causing ultra-short bowel syndrome. While being on individualised parenteral nutrition for three months, the child underwent a living donor intestinal transplant using 200 cm of ileum donated by the patient’s father. At six-month follow-up, the child achieved complete enteral autonomy as well as target goal nutrition,” explained Dr Gaurav Chaubal, Director of Multi-Organ Transplantation Surgery, Jupiter Hospital.

So far, Jupiter Hospital has reportedly performed three small intestinal transplants, with the first in March 2020. As per a release, it is the only center in Western India performing small intestinal transplants and the first center in India to perform living donor small intestinal transplants