A 13-year-old school student, Sara Asif Waghu from Rajapur, Maharashtra narrowly escaped a fatal incident after accidentally ingesting a pin while wearing her regular scarf. The pin was found to be stuck in her lungs, causing discomfort while breathing. A team of doctors headed by Dr. Shahid Patel, a Consultant Pulmonologist, at Medicover Hospitals, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai carried out a flexible bronchoscopy to retrieve the pin from her lung.
On July 20, 2024, she returned from school and around 6pm, while she was changing her scarf holding the pin with her mouth, suddenly someone in the family playfully patted her back and accidentally the pin was swallowed.
Her father, Asif Waghu, an electrician by profession, rushed her to Joshi Hospital in Rajapur where X-ray was performed and the pin could be seen in her lung. She was then taken to Parkar Hospital in Ratnagiri where she underwent another X-ray followed by an endoscopic procedure of her stomach. There the doctors confirmed that the pin remains in her lung and it is critical, Mr. Waghu said.
“The doctors in Ratnagiri suggested to go to Kolhapur but we do not have any relatives there, so we opted for Navi Mumbai. Our relative enquired the same night about this hospital and the next morning, we boarded a train and came down to Navi Mumbai where we consulted our daughter at Medicover Hospitals in Kharghar. We were extremely worried because every time she was breathing, the pain was pricking her lung,” Mr. Waghu said.
Dr. Shahid Patel, Consultant Pulmonologist at Medicover Hospitals, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai said, “The child came in an emergency on July 21 noon. On presentation, she was stable, and her X-ray disclosed that the pin was lodged in the lower lobe of the left lung. She was immediately taken up for emergency bronchoscopic removal of a foreign body, the pin.”
Doctors said that this was a challenging case as the child was young, her airways were small, and the pin was wedged in the lower lobe of the left lung, with the sharp end embedded into the wall of the airways of the lung. “With great difficulty and expertise, the pin was removed after a procedure lasting 50 minutes and the child was discharged the same day without any complications,” Mr. Patel said.
Aspiration of foreign bodies into the lung is uncommon as compared to ingestion into the food pipe, Mr. Patel said, “We commonly see coins as a foreign body in the airways, in the pediatric age group. Interestingly, it has been observed that accidental aspiration and ingestion of pins is being seen more often in women, as they have a habit of holding the pin in their mouth while adjusting their dress.”
Published - August 14, 2024 04:47 pm IST
