Excelsior Correspondent
POONCH, Sept 5: A 6-year-old child was operated and around 1 kg of Ascaris worms was removed from his intestines by the doctors at District Hospital (DH) Poonch.
The child was brought to DH Poonch with the complaint of stoppage of bowel movement completely, abdominal pain and bloating, and vomiting. On examining by the doctors, ultrasound of the abdomen was advised. In ultrasound, the small intestine of the boy was found completely blocked and he was advised surgery for opening the blockage.
During the surgery, which was conducted by Consultant Surgeon, DH Poonch Dr Manav Datta with the assistance of Anesthetist Dr Shafiq Choudhary and OT Assistant Sanjeev Sharma, the reason of the blockage of the intestine was found to be presence of bunches of Ascaris worms, which were removed by the doctors in around 1-hour-long surgery.
Approximately 1 kg of Ascaris worms was removed from the small intestine of the child and now he is responding well. The surgery was performed on last Saturday and the child is still under observation of doctors.
Commenting on the surgery, Dr Manav Datta said that such type of surgeries are not rare but it is 1st time that Ascaris worms in such huge quantity has been found and removed from the intestine of a patient in their Hospital. He said people infected with Ascaris often show no symptoms. If symptoms do occur they can be light and include abdominal discomfort.
“Heavy infections can cause intestinal blockage and impair growth in children. Other symptoms such as cough are due to migration of the worms through the body. In mild or moderate Ascariasis, the intestinal infestation can cause vague abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting and diarrhea or bloody stools. If you have a large number of worms in the intestine, you might have abdominal pain, fatigue, vomiting and weight loss or malnutrition,” he said, adding, in some cases, worms may block the narrow ducts of your liver or pancreas, causing severe pain.
Talking about prevention against the disease, Dr Manav said the best defense against Ascariasis is good hygiene and common sense.
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