Nagpur: A six-year-old girl who suffered life-threatening dog bites on her neck while shielding her younger sibling from the strays has been saved by doctors at AIIMS-Nagpur.The attack in Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni in Feb this year severely affected her ability to breathe, speak and swallow, leaving her dependent on the tracheostomy tube. Local doctors performed an emergency tracheostomy — a procedure in which a tube is inserted into the windpipe through the neck to secure breathing — before she was shifted to AIIMS-Nagpur in May.Over the weeks, ENT surgeons, anaesthetists and paediatric specialists at AIIMS meticulously reconstructed the damaged framework of her tiny larynx and restored the delicate lining of her airway while treating deep-seated infections caused by the dog bite. Treating a crushed and infected paediatric airway is among the most complex challenges, say doctors, adding the ENT department devised a carefully planned, multi-stage treatment strategy involving evaluation under general anaesthesia, intensive paediatric critical care and multiple airway reconstruction procedures.Following the reconstructive surgeries, the girl underwent intensive rehabilitation. In the final stage of treatment, surgeons successfully performed decannulation, permanently removing the tracheostomy tube from her neck.The girl is now breathing naturally, speaking clearly, and has returned home. She has also resumed school in Seoni.AIIMS Nagpur executive director Dr Prashant Joshi praised the girl for her courage and commended the coordinated efforts of doctors who treated the child.
