SURGEONS SUCCESSFULLY OPERATE ON FOUR-YEAR-OLD GIRL

BANJA LUKA, NOVEMBER 11 /SRNA/ - A surgical team from the Pediatric Surgery Clinic of the University Clinical Center /UCC/ of Republika Srpska has successfully performed a complex operation on a four-year-old girl with a congenital left-sided diaphragmatic hernia. The operation involved close cooperation between clinics and a multidisciplinary approach to treatment.

The surgeons moved the intestines back into the abdominal cavity and repaired the defect in the diaphragm using a combination of open and thoracoscopic surgery, the UCC said.

The operation was led by the head of the clinic, Aleksandar Brković. It was carried out by the Pediatric Surgery Clinic's surgical team, with substantial expert support and cooperation from colleagues at the Thoracic Surgery Clinic and the team of the Clinic for Anesthesia and Intensive Care.

Operations of this kind require a high level of expertise, experience, precision and coordination among all members of the medical team, the statement said.

A congenital diaphragmatic hernia is a developmental anomaly in which abdominal organs pass into the chest cavity through a defect in the diaphragm.

In this case, tests carried out because of mild breathing problems showed that part of the small and large intestine was in the left side of the chest, the UCC said.

The successful operation once again confirmed the importance of teamwork, the exchange of knowledge and experience, and the continuous development of the institution's professional capacity, the UCC said.

The hospital particularly thanked Velibor Simetić and Branko Štrbac of the Thoracic Surgery Clinic for their valuable advice and active involvement during the operation, as well as pediatric surgeon Blagoje Grujić, the anesthesia team led by Jelena Knezar, scrub nurse Dubravka Talić, and all the dedicated and motivated young scrub nurses and residents who took part in the operation.