●
Rainbow's ECMO Retrieval Team flew over 3,600
km to bring a critically ill child from Guwahati to Hyderabad, marking the
first reported pediatric ECMO from North East India
●
Child survived severe Influenza B pneumonia
after spending 36 days on ECMO, making it one of the longest pediatric ECMO
support cases involving air transport in the country
Hyderabad, 11th
June, 2026 : An 8-year-old boy from Guwahati who was
fighting for every breath after a severe Influenza B infection has made a
remarkable recovery following a complex cross-country rescue mission by Rainbow
Children's Hospital, Hyderabad, India's leading pediatric multi-specialty and
perinatal care hospital chain. The child was airlifted on ECMO support from
Guwahati to Hyderabad and went on to survive 36 days on advanced life support,
making it one of the country's most extraordinary pediatric ECMO recoveries.
The child was admitted
to a hospital in Guwahati with severe pneumonia caused by Influenza B
infection. Despite being on a ventilator for nearly a week, his condition
continued to deteriorate, and his oxygen levels remained critically low. With
conventional treatment options exhausted, Rainbow Children's Hospital activated
its specialized ECMO Retrieval Team to undertake a highly complex rescue mission.
The mission was led by
Dr. Kapil B. Sachane, Pediatric ECMO Specialist at Rainbow Children's Hospital,
Hyderabad. The team travelled from Hyderabad to Guwahati, where they
established and initiated ECMO support at the referring hospital itself, demonstrating
the capability to deliver advanced life support directly at the bedside, even
in distant locations.
The team initiated
Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (VV ECMO), an advanced
life-support therapy used when the lungs can no longer provide adequate oxygen
to the body. Once the child was stabilized on ECMO, he was airlifted nearly
1,800 kilometres to Hyderabad for advanced critical care.
The retrieval operation
involved a total travel distance of more than 3,600 kilometres by the Rainbow team
and approximately 24 hours from ECMO initiation to successful handover in
Hyderabad. To the hospital's knowledge, this represents one of the
longest-duration pediatric ECMO air retrievals reported in India and the first
pediatric ECMO from North East India.
What followed was an
equally challenging battle. The child remained on ECMO support for over five
weeks, requiring round-the-clock multidisciplinary care from pediatric
intensivists, ECMO specialists, cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, perfusionists,
nurses, respiratory therapists and rehabilitation specialists. During his stay,
he developed a difficult-to-treat infection, further complicating his recovery.
Despite the odds, the
young patient gradually improved. After 36 days on ECMO support, he was successfully
weaned off ECMO and continued to make steady progress. He is now clinically
stable and ready to return home to his family.
"When we first
evaluated the child in Guwahati, his lungs had been severely damaged by the
infection and conventional ventilation was no longer enough to sustain him.
ECMO was his only chance. Transporting a critically ill child on ECMO across
such a long distance is a highly complex operation that requires coordination
at every step. Our team was able to establish ECMO support directly at the
referring hospital before transport, which is critical in such time-sensitive
situations. What makes this case even more remarkable is that the retrieval was
only the beginning. He remained on ECMO for 36 days and battled several complications
before gradually recovering. Watching him walk out of the hospital and prepare
to return home is the greatest reward for our entire team," said Dr.
Kapil B Sachane, Pediatric Intensivist and ECMO Specialist, Rainbow Children's
Hospital, Hyderabad.
Rainbow Children's
Hospital, Hyderabad, has developed India's only dedicated Pediatric ECMO
Retrieval Programme capable of initiating ECMO support in critically ill
children at remote locations and safely transporting them over long distances
to specialized centres. The programme is designed to bridge critical gaps in
access to advanced pediatric life support, ensuring that geography does not
limit a child's chances of survival during medical emergencies.
We have done 42
Paediatric & Newborn ECMO in our centre and our outcomes are comparable to
best centres in world said Dr Farhan AR Shaikh, HOD-Paediatric Intensive
Care, Rainbow Children’s Hospital, Hyderabad.
Because of excellent
PICU team work, nursing staff and support from Paediatric subspecialist we are
able to save such sick children & newborn. We have best survival rates in
Paediatric Neuro Critical Care patients and also post Liver and BMT patients
said Dr Dinesh Kumar Chirla, Director – Intensive Care Services, Rainbow
Children’s Hospital, Hyderabad.
The case underscores
how advanced pediatric retrieval services are transforming access to critical
care in India, enabling children in distant parts of the country to receive
highly specialized treatment that was once available only in a handful of centres.
For families facing life-threatening medical emergencies, geography no longer
has to determine outcomes.
About Rainbow
Children's Hospital
Rainbow network
comprises 24 hospitals and 6 clinics across 9 cities, with a total bed capacity
of ~2,435 beds. Our Pediatric services under “Rainbow Children’s Hospital”
include newborn and pediatric intensive care, pediatric multi-specialty
services, pediatric quaternary care (including organ transplantation); whereas
our women care services under “Birthright by Rainbow” offers perinatal care
services which includes normal and complex obstetric care, multi-disciplinary
fetal care, perinatal genetic and fertility care along with gynecology
services.
Rainbow Children’s
hospital built on strong fundamentals of multidisciplinary approach with a
full-time consultant led clinical service along with 24/7 commitment in a child
centric environment. The company follows a hub-and-spoke operating model where
the hub hospital provides comprehensive outpatient, inpatient care, with a
focus on tertiary and quaternary services and the spokes provide primary,
secondary and emergency care in pediatrics and obstetrics, large outpatient
services and comprehensive obstetrics, pediatric and level 3 NICU services.
This model is successfully operational at Hyderabad and is gaining traction in
Bengaluru. The endeavor is to replicate this approach in Chennai and across the
National Capital Region. Subsequently Rainbow intends to expand into tier-2
cities of Southern India.
Rainbow embraces a unique
doctor engagement model, where doctors work exclusively on a full-time,
retainer basis. The doctors work in teams and have 24/7 commitment, which is
particularly important for children’s emergency, neonatal, pediatric intensive
care services and support pediatric retrieval services. The Company also
operates the country’s largest pediatric DNB training program in private
healthcare, offering post graduate residential DNB and fellowship program.
Please visit www.rainbowhospitals.in
for more information. You may also reach out to:
Media Contact:
Mallikharjuna Rao
Tel: +91- 8978673555
Email: media@rainbowhospitals.in