Indian origin surgeon blasts kidney stones, saves boy's life

London, Sep 1, 2010:

A doctor of Indian origin blasted kidney stones with laser in a highly risky operation and saved a five-year-old boy from certain death.

Benjamin White faced death through renal failure after developing 16 kidney stones, some as large as four cm in diameter.

Until now surgeons faced great difficulties in removing kidney stones from young children with lasers because the laser tubes were too large, reports the Daily Mail.

So the doctor, consultant paediatric urologist Prasad Godbole, who works at Sheffield Children's Hospital, used a pioneering new laser fibre, the width of a hair, which he inserted into Benjamin's back.

He used the fibre to deliver a high-energy blast of laser heat, which pulverised the kidney stones. Currently, Godbole is the only one in Britain to perform the risky technique.

Godbole said Benjamin's stones were "surprisingly large" and admitted that the keyhole technique carried a "high risk" if he were to make an error.

Benjamin's grateful father Daniel White, 35, a bank manager from Northampton, praised Godbole for his "fantastic" work.

He said: "When we brought him to Sheffield they were expecting to see just a few stones but when they looked at him, his kidneys were like a brick wall."

"Benjamin's kidneys were so bad he was going into renal failure. We were faced with potential of him dying and were so scared he wouldn't make it."

"Prasad told Benjamin he would play a game of space invaders with his kidneys, he even said that he would try to beat his high score."

"His level of skill and commitment was fantastic, he made the whole horrific process much easier for all of us," Daniel added.

Benjamin underwent persistent urine infections from January last year and it is now believed that he has suffered from kidney stones since birth.

In February this year, he underwent his first keyhole surgery using the technique, which took six hours and cleared 95 percent of the stones from his left kidney.

A stent was also fitted to his right kidney and this was removed in April, when further stones were taken out of his urethra.

In June, Godbole performed the technique again, taking three hours with Benjamin under general anaesthetic to remove stones from his right kidney.

Benjamin undergoes one final operation Wednesday in which Godbole will be extracting the remaining stones from his right kidney.

The young schoolboy is expected to make a full recovery at home with his father Daniel, his mother Stephanie, 39, and brother Samuel, 18 months.