Screw removed from airway of a six-year-old child without any incision

Ludhiana, April 26, 2019: A six-year-old boy, hailing from Kangra, presented with complaints of sudden onset respiratory discomfort in the Emergency Room of Christian Medical College, Ludhiana and was suspected to have foreign body aspiration. Diagnosis was confirmed by doing a chest-x-ray, which showed a screw in the respiratory tract of the patient. The patient was immediately shifted to operation theatre and the screw was successfully removed from the respiratory tree bronchoscopically, without any incision, by the Paediatric Surgery team led by Dr. William Bhatti, including Dr.Vishal Michael and Dr. Alen and Senior Anaesthetist Dr. Arti Rajkumar. The patient was thereafter discharged in a satisfactory condition after 48 hours. Foreign body aspiration can cause sudden onset respiratory distress and is life threatening. It requires immediate surgical intervention. The department of paediatric surgery does approximately 40-50 bronchoscopies per year. The commonly removed foreign bodies are peanuts, almonds, beads, coins, small toys and magnets. Parents should be careful not to give small loose articles and dry fruits to children up until the age of six years. This will help to prevent such dangerous situations from occurring in the future.