A two-year-old boy who had hearing impairment underwent cochlear implant surgery in both his ears at AMRI Hospitals, Mukundapur, on October 30.
The doctor who conducted the surgery, Dhrubo Roy, said the implants were successfully placed. Roy, a senior ENT surgeon, told The Telegraph that the implants would be switched on after two weeks.
The child’s parents apprehended hearing problems when the boy did not respond to calls or sounds even after he turned two.
“Usually, babies start speaking by the time they are two. But one will speak only if one is hearing. In this case, since the baby could not hear anything, he was not speaking any words or calling his parents,” said Roy.
The family, from Tripura’s Agartala, conducted a test — BERA test — that determined that he was suffering “profound hearing loss”.
The family then came to the hospital.
Roy said the various implants would be switched on gradually and not at one go. This will be done to help the boy distinguish the various kinds of sound — music, harsh sound, speech — that have different frequencies.
Roy said the uniqueness of the surgery lay in the minimally invasive process taken for the implant and the use of endoscope.
“We made a 1.5cmx1cm hole in a position above and a little behind the ears. Usually, such surgeries are done using a microscope, but we used an endoscope for the implant. Since endoscopes are available in hospitals in Bengal’s districts now, such a surgery is possible in the districts, too,” he said.
Roy said the entire rehabilitation would take six months, during which the boy would be helped get comfortable with sound and identify sound. Later, when he picks up sounds, he will start speaking.
“We expect that he will start speaking within a year,” said the ENT surgeon.
“I had no idea that such young babies can have hearing problems. I had the impression that only the elderly suffer from hearing issues,” said the boy’s father, who did not want to be named.