Falak back on ventilator after having breathing problems, say doctors

After battling for survival for over three weeks at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here, two-year old baby Falak, who was taken off the ventilator, was again put back on it after she started having breathing problems Friday night.

"Falak is marginally better. But she was put back on the ventilator Friday night as she started having breathing problems," Dr. Deepak Agrawal, assistant professor of neurosurgery at the apex AIIMS trauma centre, told IANS Saturday.

Saying that Falak is stable now, Dr. Agrawal added: "She is stable as the chest and blood infection have resolved, but the brain infection is still a cause for concern."

The doctor indicated another surgery on Falak once her brain infection subsided.

"Once the brain infection subsides, we will conduct a surgery on the brain. It is called 'shunt' surgery, where we will be inserting a plastic tube from the stomach to the brain and drain out the brain fluid,” said Dr. Agrawal.

The plastic tube would be the only permanent solution, but if the tube leads to any infection, the procedure will be managed with surgery in future, the doctor said.

Falak was brought to AIIMS by a teenager Jan 18 with a fractured skull, bruises and human bite marks all over her tiny frame. The girl who claimed to be her mother is now in a juvenile home.

In further developments in the case, the Delhi Police Friday night arrested Rajkumar, the man alleged to have handed over baby Falak to his teen girlfriend. Another woman named Pratima was also arrested from Patna in the case that has exposed a human trafficking network in the capital.