Doctors at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital here have used a new technique to remove a gemstone bead stuck in the windpipe of a nine-year-old boy.
Krishna Nahak of Ganjam district was playfully chewing a necklace of gemstone beads when accidentally the string snapped and one of the beads found its way deep into the right bronchus through the windpipe.
The boy was in acute respiratory distress and his family sought medical help at several hospitals without any relief. They finally brought the child to IMS and SUM Hospital where Dr Radhamadhab Sahu, an expert in ENT and Skull Base surgery, examined the patient.
“The primary attempt to retrieve the foreign object failed as neither the optical forceps nor any other forcep in the medical armamentarium could take hold of the weighty shiny gemstone,” Dr Sahu said.
“The only option available in this type of case is an open thoracic surgery accompanied by very high possibility of mortality as the patient’s air way was severely compromised,” he said, adding “We were presented with many challenges while dealing with this difficult case.”
“The procedure was a success because of the application of Fogarty Catheter and the child was not required to undergo an open thoracic surgery,” Dr Sahu said. The core team of doctors who were involved in this case included Dr Debasish Sahu, Dr JN Senapati, Dr Mrutyunjay Dash, Dr Anita Behera,
Dr Swastika Swaro and Dr Nishtha Anand.