Shija saves boy who consumed metal ear-pick
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, February 11 2022:
An 11-year old boy with cerebral palsy, who accidentally swallowed a metal ear-pick while watching television and was also found positive for Covid-19 positive, was saved by a team of dedicated staff of Shija Hospitals.
The boy has recovered and is now discharged from the hospital, said a release of Shija Hospitals & Research Institute (SHRI) business development deputy manager Takhellambam Premkumar, adding that the expertise and skills of the treating team mitigated the risk and saved the boy with an innovative idea for the extraction.
The release said the parents of the boy brought him to Shija Hospital on February 7 around 10:19 pm after admission in another hospital on February 6 and was tested COVID-19 positive.
The hospital did not have a paediatric bronchoscope, therefore the patient was referred to SHRI.
According to the initial investigation, the patient had a foreign body in his right lower bronchus and his oxygen saturation (Sp02) was 92 percent.
A COVID-19 patient undergoing a general anaesthesia procedure to remove a foreign substance posed a significant danger.
However, the expertise and skills of the treating team mitigated the risk and came up with an innovative idea for the extraction.
General and Laparoscopic surgeon Dr Jugindra Sorokhaibam used an endoscopic magnet to speed up the retrieval and minimize the amount of time the patient was without oxygen during the procedure.
This was the first time an endoscopic magnet was used for foreign body removal in the bronchus without using a bronchoscope, said the release.
When anaesthetising the patient with a low SpO2 level, consultant anaesthesiologist Dr Kajal Momin took precautions to ensure patient's safety.
The ear wax cleaner was a 2-inch long slender metal tool with a scoop at the tip.
The X-ray report showed the scoop end facing down and the smooth end up.
The consultant felt that any working/grasping instrument passing through a paediatric bronchoscope would be very difficult to hold the smooth end.
He attempted to pass magnet tipped foreign body extractor (often used for removing the coins from the esophagus) through the working channel of the bronchoscope before inserting into the child's respiratory system.
However it did not fit through the narrow channel.
He then passed the magnet extractor directly through the 5.5 Endotracheal Tube (tube placed in trachea during anaesthesia to ventilate the lungs in the unconscious state) and wiggle it to the right bronchus under C arm guidance without a bronchoscope.
There the magnet held the foreign body and pulled it out successfully, the release detailed.
The patient's condition gradually improved with the treatment provided and was discharged from the hospital in stable condition on February 10 .
The patient's father thanked the hospital and the treating team for saving his son's life and not delaying treatment due to COVID.
The management of Shija also applauded Dr Jugindra Sorokhaibam's ground-breaking treatment procedure.
He is also the president of Association of Minimal Access Surgeons of India (AMASI), the largest association of Minimal Access surgeons in the world with over 11,000 members.