Mohali
25 June 2019
DIVYA AZAD
A free check-up camp for children with hearing difficulties was held at Fortis Hospital here today.
Dr. Ashok Gupta, Director, Department of ENT, Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Oncology and Dr Anish Gupta, Consultant- ENT examined 17 patients in the camp which included consultation and check-up, counselling about cochlear implant, and counselling by speech therapist.
This camp was exclusively for children from 9 months till 11 years of age who are hearing-impaired since birth, hearing impaired owing to injury or an ailment, and those who are not benefitting from any hearing aid. Free consultation by speech therapist was also offered to the patients. Patients were also counselled about their eligibility to undergo Cochlear implant .
Fortis Hospital, Mohali had last year launched Cochlear Implant Clinic here. Dr Ashok Gupta emphasized the need for Cochlear Implant surgery in children during early days. “Most of the children remain undiagnosed or are diagnosed very late.” Dr Gupta advised for regular medical check-up with specialist so that it can be diagnosed early, and corrective surgery can be taken for a better quality of life.
Dr Gupta explained, “The treatment is done in the form of cochlear implantation which is a 2-hour surgery and requires 2-3 days hospitalization & the implant requires a switch on after 3 weeks. The main factors which assure success include right candidate selection, right evaluation & good quality of implant in addition to surgical technique. Another factor that ensures success is post-op rehabilitation, ie; speech therapy to ensure that child starts hearing & speaking. The best results are obtained if the implant is done easily in life that is as early as when the child is 6 months of age. The brain’s area for speech development is taken over by visual area after 6 years of age, so earlier the better.”
