BOY HAS ALL LARGE INTESTINE REMOVED, RETURNS TO SCHOOL

A schoolboy’s entire large intestine had to be removed by surgeons after developing tiny tumors that spread throughout his colon.

As there was no alternative effective treatment for this uncommon illness, which affects one in 100,000 children, they also removed the rectum.

Late last year, the 13-year-old kid underwent surgery at Meru’s Level 5 PCEA Chogoria Mission Hospital.

He has already started attending school again in Standard 8, and this year he will take the KCPE.

This delicate procedure, which was successfully completed in a county facility, exemplifies Kenya’s expanding surgical capacity. Previously, such services were only provided at national referral hospitals.

The boy’s medical team reported the case last week in the journal Clinical Case Reports.

They are Chogoria Mission Hospital’s Elijah Mwaura, Dennis Mukamati, Mark Waithaka, Victor Mutua, and Maurice Mugao. Others include Chris von Csefalvay of the US-based data consulting company Starschema Inc. and Edwin Mogere of Murang’a Level 5 Hospital.

“A 13-year-old kid came to our institution with a three-year history of painless hematochezia, or passing fresh blood from the anus. He started to look pale.

Red blood cells were found by blood tests to be abnormally tiny and iron-poor.

Additionally, there found a few minor noncancerous polyps in the throat.

Colonoscopy revealed several pedunculated polyps (tissue growths like mushrooms linked to the surface of the colon by a thin stalk) all throughout the colon, according to the experts.

Juvenile polyposis syndrome (JPS), a hereditary condition marked by many polyps in the throat, stomach, intestines, and rectum, was identified as the cause of this.

“JPS is a rare condition, with an estimated frequency of one case per 100,000 people. Gastric and colorectal cancer risk is higher in JPS patients, according to their findings.

The doctors determined that the boy could only be saved by having his huge intestine removed.

The large intestine’s main function is to absorb water and electrolytes to concentrate the poo, however people can live without it.

Such individuals do, however, require medicine as they would frequently pass watery stools without it.

The boy was able to eliminate waste normally after the large intestines and rectum were removed. The surgeons then formed an internal J-shaped pouch from the end of the small intestine to the anus.

By using this treatment, a permanent opening (stoma) in the abdomen is not required for feces passage.

A case report on juvenile polyposis syndrome is the name of their medical report.

109 polyps can be seen on a picture of the excised intestine, which had been sliced open.

The youngster was able to eat tiny meals and hold onto waste in the small intestine when he was released from the hospital on the third day following the operation.

He had faecal incontinence for a few days, but it went away after a week. Three months after the operation, the patient was examined at our surgical clinic, according to the doctors’ report.

He had put on weight and had no other symptoms save having to go to the bathroom four to six times per day.

Three-month follow-up endoscopies found one polyp near the rectal.

After finishing primary school, the patient and his guardian preferred that the anorectal stump polyp and the gastric polyp be removed. He’s in his senior year right now.

To lower the risk of cancer, they advised removing the remaining polyps.