Team of doctors saves Bushbuckridge 10-year-old’s life

A team of surgeons from across the country recently performed a life-saving surgery, the first of its kind in Mpumalanga, on a young boy in Kiaat Private Hospital on Friday September 9.

Facilitated by local non-profit organisation Pediatric Care Africa (PCA), the intricate surgery was the very first to occur within the province for both state and private hospitals.

Mohlala Mayingisana (10) from Bushbuckridge had been suffering from portal hypertension, which is a life-threatening condition rarely found in children. Portal hypertension is classified as an increase in pressure within the portal vein. The portal vein carries blood from the digestive organs to the liver.

“On Wednesday [September 7], I took this young man to be admitted to Kiaat Hospital, and he was very brave,” said PCA’s founder, Dr André Hattingh.

“Although we could not communicate, he smiled and gave me the thumbs up when the ward sister put him in his bed.

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“Due to the complexity of the surgery and the age of the boy, a whole team of out-of-town specialists flew in to Mbombela from Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal and drove from Johannesburg to team up with Dr Elliot Motloung, the head of the paediatric surgery department at Rob Ferreira and at Kiaat,” said Hattingh.

Motloung was joined in theatre by a specialist paediatric anesthesiologist from Johannesburg, Dr Lerato Ramatlotlo, specialist paediatric surgeons who travelled especially from Pietermaritzburg, Dr Sanele Madziba and Dr Hansie Mangray, and Dr Lesiba Mogotlane, who flew in from Cape Town to participate in the surgery.

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Motloung said the surgery took five hours and that it went smoothly. “You need at least three experienced surgeons for this. It’s a life-threatening condition that needs surgery to be performed urgently to prevent complications such as vomiting blood, splenomegaly [enlargement of the spleen] and liver failure.

“The child has recovered well and was discharged on Wednesday September 14. He will need a follow-up to assess the blood flow through his liver,” said Motloung. The child was transferred to Rob Ferreira on September 14 after being discharged, where he is recovering in the paediatric surgery ward under Motloung’s supervision.

Hattingh said PCA could not have wished for a more professional medical team and a better environment for Mohlala.
“You are our heroes,” said Hattingh. Kiaat Private Hospital’s marketing manager, Candice Peterson, said that when like-minded individuals align across various resource disciplines, it creates the opportunity to perform such a major life-saving surgery.

“To witness this extraordinary team of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals come together in our theatre to perform a first-of-its-kind medical procedure in not only our hospital, but the province, was a momentous landmark for Kiaat Private Hospital, which celebrates eight years this year,” she said.

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“Dr Motloung is changing lives for many in Mpumalanga. We thank you, Dr Motloung, for bringing paediatric surgery to Mpumalanga,” said Peterson. However, this was not the only life-saving surgery PCA had recently facilitated.

“To date, this was one of the largest and most complex surgeries PCA has been involved in,” said Hattingh. “Another little boy was born with Hirschsprung’s disease [a condition that affects the large intestine] and received major complex abdominal surgery on Thursday September 8 that will greatly improve his quality of life.”

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