Jammu, May 11: The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board has been actively working to eliminate deafness among young children in the region by sponsoring Cochlear Implant Surgeries at SMVDNSH (the Board’s superspecialty Hospital at Kakryal). I
n a recent milestone, three more deaf children received the gift of hearing through sponsored Cochlear surgeries, making SMVDNSH the first hospital in the entire region to simultaneously undertake three Bilateral Cochlear Implant Surgeries, benefiting both ears.
One of the beneficiaries was just 16 months old, presenting unique challenges related to surgery. The families of the beneficiaries, hailing from the UT of J&K, expressed deep appreciation for the philanthropic support provided by Anshul Garg, CEO of Shrine Board, in transforming the lives of their children. They also commended the infrastructure of SMVDNSH and the clinical expertise of its surgical team.
Dr Rohan Gupta, ENT Consultant and Cochlear Implant Surgeon highlighted the critical importance of early intervention for maximum benefit from Cochlear Implant Surgery.
He said the research-based input of early age is critical to drive maximum benefit from a Cochlear Implant Surgery. A Bilateral Surgery enables the beneficiary to enjoy even better outcomes in the shape of better sound perceptions, directionality, localisation and easier listening in noisy environments; hence reducing cognitive load on the brain, he said.
Dr Rohan informed that in the last 6 months, as many as 09 Bilateral Surgeries have been performed at SMVDNSH with majority of the beneficiaries being around 2 years of age, who gained extensively from the post-op rehab/ audiological management.
In this context, Dr Rohan applauded the critical teamwork and extensive support rendered by the anaesthesia team headed by Dr Pankaj Gupta and Post Operation care team headed by Dr Anand and Dr Kamaljeet.
Dr Rohan also mentioned that for children having ‘severe’ to ‘profound’ hearing loss, hearing aids do not offer much promise and thus a Cochlear Implantation is the only promising solution.
Identifying children in need of Cochlear Implant Surgeries at a young age assumes significant importance for the success of the surgery,” he said and applauded the very significant role played by audiological professionals of the region in this regard.
