Amro Drabee’ arrived to Caritas Baby Hospital for suffering from painful mouth infection that prevented him from eating or drinking for many days.
The ten years old child comes from Dura town Southwest of Hebron. Ten days before his admission to CBH he suffered from dental infection where his dentist prescribed for him painkiller and antipyretic that includes Ibuprofen. Few days later, Amro started to have eye redness, oral lesions that were painful and were bleeding, in addition to urethral erythema a pain on urination.
Fida’, Amro’s mother, took the child from one doctor to another but his situation kept deteriorating from the pain and dehydration until one pediatrician referred her to CBH.
Immediately at CBH our medical team started Intravenous (IV) therapy to deliver liquids to Amro’s body and compensate the loss of water and minerals. They also ordered all needed medical tests to diagnose the case.
CBH pediatricians diagnosed Amro with Steven Johnson syndrome (SJS). This is a rare serious drug reaction condition that affects the skin, mucous membrane, genitals and eyes.
Therefore, they stopped any suspected drug that the child was taking and provided him with alternative pain control, hydration and nutritional support. Our team also used immunity modifying therapies like steroids and intravenous immunoglobulins.
According to the pediatrician Dr.Nader Handal the syndrome could lead to serious complications including pneumonia, overwhelming bacterial infections (sepsis), shock, multiple organ failure, and death. Therefore, the timely arrival for Amro to CBH and our team’s accurate diagnosis and rapid response helped save his life.
Although he remained suffering from pain attacks in the early days of treatment, Amro showed response to therapy and went back home after eight nights at CBH. The family was advised to avoid the suspected causative drug in future treatments for Amro.
Prepared by: Shireen Khamis
