A Metallic Pin Successfully Removed from A Child’s lung

A team of doctors in Mumbai Hospital gave a fresh lease of life to a 10-year-old girl who had accidentally swallowed a large metallic pin with a sharp end, 2 years ago. A team led by ENT doctors Dr Kshitij Shah and Dr Shalaka Dighe, ably supported by pediatric pulmonologist Dr Sagar Warankar and anaesthesia team led by Dr Pramod Kale performed a successful surgery at the hospital. The patient recovered and was discharged within 48 hours.

2 years ago, Naira Shah (name changed), a 10 –year-old girl from Mumbai accidentally swallowed a metallic pin. An x-ray of the abdomen was done and it failed to reveal the foreign body and everybody eventually forgot about the incident. Her life was smooth until the patient started complaining of dry cough after 1.5 years of sleeping in certain positions. Hence, the patient visited Zen Multispeciality Hospital for further investigations.

“To our utter surprise, an x-ray of the chest revealed a metallic foreign body in the lower airway on the left side. A CT scan of the chest was done to precisely locate the foreign body. After an initial attempt at removal of the foreign body by flexible bronchoscopy, a decision was made to perform a rigid bronchoscopy.” said Dr Kshitij Shah, ENT Surgeon, Zen Multispeciality Hospital, Mumbai

Dr Shalaka Dighe, ENT Surgeon, Zen Multispeciality Hospital, Mumbai, said, “Rigid bronchoscopy is a procedure done to gain access to the patient’s airway using a hollow metallic tube under general anaesthesia. The foreign body was successfully removed without any complications and without an external scar on the body after an hour-long surgery.

 “The child was hale and hearty in a couple of hours after surgery. Failure to remove the foreign body via bronchoscopy would mean a very morbid open surgery (thoracotomy) to remove it.” said, Dr Dighe

“For over 1.5 years, Naira (name changed) was fine and did not encounter any problems. But suddenly she started coughing. We panicked, feared Covid and took her to Zen Hospital. We are thankful to Zen Hospital for promptly treating our child and urge other parents like us to keep away sharp or metallic objects like pins or coins from their children,” concluded the patient’s father Sanjiv Shah (name changed).