Quetta doctors successfully remove 5kg tumour from 3-year-old girl's abdomen

Doctors in Quetta successfully removed a 5kg tumour known as 'sacrococcygeal teratoma' from a 3-year-old girl's abdomen, who was completely paralysed.

A team at the Children's Hospital Quetta, led by Professor Dr Ghulam Nabi Nasir, performed the successful operation and safely separated the tumour from her body.

This type of tumour occurs in one in 35,000 babies and is the most common tumour found in newborns.

It usually develops on the baby's tailbone during pregnancy and may result in infant death during delivery. The only treatment available is surgery after birth.

A tumour was identified on Rozeena’s lower body shortly after her birth. As the girl grew, the tumour also increased in size.

Her father, Saddar Musa Khel, took her to various cities in Punjab for treatment but lacked the funds for the operation.

“When we went to a hospital in Multan, they asked us to deposit Rs70,000 for a test first. After that, another Rs40,000 would be required for a second test. I didn’t have the money at that time, so I brought my daughter back home,” he told the BBC Urdu.

At one point, Saddar Musa Khel had to use the funds he had collected for his daughter's treatment to pay for his wife’s liver operation.

He mentioned that over time, the tumour had grown so large that the girl could not sleep comfortably on her back and was “practically paralysed.”

Seeing the girl's pain and distress, local paramedic Akbar Khan and social worker Murad Khan shared her videos and photos on social media to seek help.

Officials from the health department informed them that Balochistan's Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti and Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar had ordered that the girl receive treatment at the government's expense.

Rozeena and her parents were brought to the Children's Hospital Quetta from Musakhel, where the doctors provided all necessary treatment free of charge. 

Doctors stated that the tumour weighed 5kg, while Rozeena herself weighed just 7kg.

They said that it was a complicated operation because the tumour was very large for the girl's age and weight.