Bhubaneswar: Doctors at Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Bhubaneswar, have successfully removed a small metallic LED bulb lodged deep inside the lung of a four-year-old girl without performing open surgery, giving the child a new lease of life through a minimally invasive procedure.
The young patient had accidentally inhaled the LED bulb, which travelled deep into her right lung. She was brought to KIMS eight days later with a persistent cough after attempts to remove the object using standard scope procedures at another hospital were unsuccessful, as the bulb was lodged beyond reach.
A team of ENT specialists at KIMS undertook the complex procedure and safely extracted the foreign object using a hybrid minimally invasive technique. The child recovered well, ate normally within a few hours of the procedure, and was discharged in stable condition, KIIT said in a press release.
The procedure was led by Dr. Pradipt Ranjan Sahoo, Professor, ENT & Head-Neck Surgery, and Dr. Manisha Mallick, Assistant Professor, ENT & Head-Neck Surgery. They were assisted by Dr. Basant Kumar Behera from the Department of Anaesthesiology and Dr. Swadip Mishra from the Department of Respiratory Medicine.
According to the hospital, inhalation of foreign objects such as button cells, beads and small bulbs is relatively common among young children and can lead to serious complications. Removing such objects becomes particularly challenging when they become lodged deep inside the lungs, often requiring major surgery.
A detailed CT scan confirmed that the metallic LED bulb was stuck in the lower part of the girl’s right lung in a narrow airway branch, making conventional removal difficult.
Instead of opting for open surgery, the multidisciplinary team employed a combined approach with rigid and flexible bronchoscopy.
The rigid bronchoscope kept the airway open and stable, while the flexible bronchoscope enabled doctors to accurately locate and manoeuvre around the deeply lodged object.
The hybrid technique allowed the team to safely remove the bulb without complications.
