A three-year old successfully received five new organs in what is officially classified as a three-organ transplant by the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network, ABC News reported. Three of the transplants -- the stomach, the small intestine, and the large intestine -- are classified as one because they're all part of the digestive tract. An actual five-organ transplant would be extremely rare. A three-organ transplant is merely unusual. Forty have been performed in the U.S. from January to September of this year, according to ABC.
It's also more common for such procedures to be performed on toddlers one to five years old.
Adonis Ortiz was born with a genetic condition known as gastroschisis, in which the intestines develop through a hole in the abdominal wall. Though he had the requisite surgery, complications remained and doctors realized he'd need a multi-organ transplant at the age of three. This is where Ortiz's case finally becomes unique.
Rather than multiple surgeries, doctors performed all the essential procedures in one session. According to the hospital, no other similar procedure had been done without requiring additional surgeries, ABC reported.
"The one-step approach," said Jackson Memorial Hospital, where the surgery was completed, "kept Adonis from having additional surgeries."
Besides a new stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, Adonis Ortiz gainfully acquired a liver and a pancreas, according to ABC.
"We're going through some ups and downs, but I never lost faith," the boy's mother said. "I'm happy and excited with his progress."
