9-Month-Old Baby in Coma Saved in Just 4 Days by Rainbow Children’s Hospital, Delhi

The baby arrived at Rainbow’s Emergency Department with a five-day history of poor feeding and increasing breathlessness. On examination, she was non-responsive, with dangerously abnormal blood gas levels and signs of multi-organ stress. The medical team identified a potential inborn error of metabolism and moved swiftly to initiate critical interventions.

The child was transferred to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) where she was intubated and placed on mechanical ventilation. A decision was taken to initiate dialysis, a rare and high-risk intervention in infants of this size. Rainbow’s paediatric nephrology team, with specific expertise in infant dialysis, successfully performed continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), helping to rapidly clear the metabolic toxins from her system.

Within 24 hours of admission, the child showed significant neurological recovery, stabilised respiratory function, and improving lab parameters. A confirmed diagnosis of Long-Chain Fatty Acid Oxidation Defect (LC-FAOD), a rare genetic disorder that affects the body’s ability to break down certain fats during illness or fasting. She was discharged on the fourth day, fully conscious, feeding well, and neurologically intact, and continues to do well on follow-up with specialised dietary and metabolic care.

Performing dialysis in such a small infant is extremely rare. It required immediate multidisciplinary coordination, and we are relieved she made a full recovery,” said Dr Chandarshekhar Singha Senior Consultant- PEDIATRICS (HOD PICU). 

Rainbow Children’s Hospital, Delhi, remains one of the limited facilities in the region with full-spectrum paediatric emergency services, round-the-clock PICU, and the capability to perform renal replacement therapy in infants weighing less than 8 kg. This case underscores the value of timely referral, specialised paediatric infrastructure, and clinical expertise in managing complex, life-threatening presentations in children.

About Rainbow Children’s Hospital

Rainbow Children’s Medicare Limited network comprises of 20 hospitals and 5 clinics in 7 cities, with a total bed capacity of 2,035 beds. Our Paediatric services operating under the brand “Rainbow Children’s Hospital” includes new born and Paediatric intensive care, Paediatric multi-specialty services, Paediatric 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 gynaecology services.

Rainbow Children’s Hospital built on strong fundamentals of a 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, while the spokes provide 24/7 emergency care, large outpatient services and comprehensive obstetrics, Paediatric inpatient and level 3 NICU services. This model is successfully operational at Hyderabad and is gaining traction in Bengaluru. The endeavour 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 Children’s Hospital 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, Paediatric intensive care services and to support Paediatric retrieval services. The Company also operates the country’s largest Paediatric DNB training program in private healthcare, offering post graduate residential DNB and fellowship program. For more information, log on to: https://www.rainbowhospitals.in/