Doctors at Kallakurichi Government Medical College and Hospital perform cochlear implant surgery on six children in a year
S. Anand Babu, 37, an employee of Aavin, from Mathur near Kallakurichi is happy to see his five-year-old son Kovegan call him 'Appa'. Earlier, the child did not respond when his name was called and was unresponsive to everyday sounds.
Born with bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss, the child could not speak till the age of four. But all that changed when he underwent free cochlear implant surgery under the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme at the Kallakurichi Government Medical College and Hospital (KGMCH) in 2024.
'When he was two-and-a-half years old, we realised that he was not responding to sounds. We took him to the Kallakurichi Government Medical College and Hospital where doctors performed a surgery on June 12, 2024. He is now slowly picking up words', says Mr. Anand Babu.
According to a doctor, the child, identified through newborn hearing screening, underwent thorough pre-operative evaluation, including BERA, MRI, and CT scans. The team led by Chennai-based expert otorhinolaryngologist Mohan Kameswaran performed the surgery with assistance from the local ENT team, and successfully implanted a multi-channel digital cochlear device.
The device was switched on after four weeks and regular auditory-verbal therapy was initiated. There was significant improvement in the child's auditory comprehension and he progressed from Level 0 (No awareness) to Level 5 (understands common phrases without lip reading).
Kovegan is among six children aged below five years suffering from profound hearing loss from Kallakurichi district, who have undergone surgery for cochlear implant. The first surgery was performed on Kovegan.
Picking up since then, the ENT team at KGMCH has completed six cochlear implants in the last one year. Another surgery is scheduled for June 18.
According to Professor Sowndararajan, Head, Department of ENT, KGMCH, 'The implants, which cost more than ₹4 lakh, are funded by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme. Patients receive the entire surgery and post-operative treatment free of cost. At KGMCH, free screening is done for all newborns.'
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