Giant hematoma removed from two-day-old baby

Dr Pham Thi Thanh Tam, head of the hospital’s Infant Recovery Department, said the 2.5kg boy was rushed to hospital on February 1 with black blood birthmarks on his whole body and a big hematoma in the right thigh along with symptoms of brain haemorrhage.

“After checking and testing the hump, we found that the hematoma had swelled rapidly and was sucking blood from the infant’s body, possibly with a high risk of fatality,” Dr Tam said.

The immediate treatment was to look for suitable blood type for blood transfusion. The difficulty was the blood had to be fresh to be transfused to the infant’s body. Blood stored for a long time could not be used.

“Wrong blood type could result in blood disorder and pose a higher risk of death. There was a lack of voluntary blood donors during the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday so we had to call for help from blood banks and the city’s hospitals to look for a matching blood source,” Tam said. Following a four-hour surgery conducted by doctors of various departments on February 3, a 10-12cm hematoma was removed.

The infant is still using a respiratory machine; however, there is no bleeding anymore. The brain haemorrhage, according to doctors, does not appear to be too serious as the boy’s brain is reacting to movements.

However, Dr Tam said the hematoma could possibly grow again because this was an innate defect of unknown origin.

Every year, HCM City-based Paediatrics Hospital No.1 receives some 15 to 20 children suffering from the hematoma disease. The two-day infant is the hospital’s youngest hematoma patient, hospitalised in extremely critical condition.