by Suman Gupta
Mumbai: In a life-saving procedure, doctors from Wockhardt Hospital, Mira Road, pulled out a 1.5-inch bottle cap from a 7-month-old baby’s throat. Baby Jeet (name changed) suddenly encountered breathlessness and choked after swallowing the foreign body (FB).
Baby Jeet (name changed), a resident of Mira Road suddenly developed difficulty in breathing and choked. The baby cried haplessly. His parents panicked and immediately rushed him to a local doctor who referred the patient to Wockhardt Hospital, Mira Road.
Dr Neepa Vellimuttam, ENT surgeon at Wockhardt Hospital, Mira Road, said, “The patient reached the emergency department, the baby’s CT Scan revealed that there was a foreign body (FB) lodged in the oropharynx (the part of the throat at the back of the mouth behind the oral cavity), and hypopharynx which is the bottom part of the pharynx (throat), occluding the airway.”
The baby was immediately shifted to Paediatric Intensive Care Unit under Dr Ankit Gupta. After carrying out a few other tests, the baby was taken to the operation theatre where the baby underwent rigid bronchoscopy procedure. Foreign body aspiration is accidental and sudden with a high mortality rate. It is a life-threatening condition and needs timely intervention.
Dr Neepa explained, “Rigid bronchoscopy is a procedure for removal of foreign body in an emergency situation. The rigid bronchoscope is also known as an open tube bronchoscope, open tube, straight bronchoscope, or ventilating bronchoscope, and is a rigid, straight, hollow metal tube that is available in several sizes. Through this traditional method, access to the patient’s airway was gained with the help of optical forceps and camera to pull out the object, and we were surprised to see a plastic bottle cap measuring 1.5 inch.”
The procedure was performed under general anaesthesia and lasted for about 5 minutes. The baby was out of danger, shifted in the general ward, and discharged the next day. The baby has started accepting feeds now.
“The baby choked and was crying continuously. We were clueless about the sudden change in his behaviour. Fortunately, the baby received a prompt treatment at Wockhardt Hospital. We thank the doctors for helping our baby breathe freely again. We are happy to see our baby pain-free.” Patient father Raman Kumar (name changed).
