● 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
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