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Two New Zealand infants have become the first children to undergo operations for lung disorders using a miniature camera and instruments inserted through tiny incisions in their bodies, replacing the need for more traditional surgery.
The Waikato youngsters with congenital lung defects successfully had part of their lung removed using the pioneering surgical technique and are doing well.
Visiting United States expert Dr Steve Rothenberg demonstrated video-assisted lobectomy to a panel of surgeons at Waikato Hospital on Tuesday. Instead of a traditional long cut on the side of the chest, three small incisions - each around a quarter of an inch long - were made allowing surgeons to insert a tiny video camera and surgical tools to the affected area.
Waikato Hospital paediatric surgeon Askar Kukkady said it was very good experience for those watching. He believes the technique will become more common.
Dr Rothenberg said that while some children born with giant cysts that could affect breathing needed immediate surgery, most could live without surgery.
But a concern was that these congenital defects could be prone to infections, and in some cases develop into cancer later in life.
"One of the nice things about being able to do these thorascopically is it's often hard for parents to justify putting their children through these big surgeries and big incisions for what looks to be otherwise a healthy child.
"This makes it a little bit easier for them to agree to it."
Done in those young enough, Dr Rothenberg said, the rest of the lung grows to compensate for the missing portion with no physical limitation on the child.
Ella Morgan, aged 18 months, was one of the two infants Dr Rothenberg operated on.
Mum Lisa said Ella had been diagnosed while in the womb with a growth on her lower right lung. The growth had not affected her breathing or day-to-day activity, but her parents decided to go ahead with the three-hour operation to reduce her risks later in life.
