Doctors find chocolate wrapper lodged in 8-year-old’s bronchus after prolonged pneumonia

The family initially thought the symptoms were of seasonal flu, but when the child failed to get better, they decided to seek medical help.

Pari Solanki, 8, suffered from a recurrent pneumonia that puzzled doctors till they finally caught the culprit for her deteriorating health — a piece of chocolate wrapper lodged in her upper bronchus.

Doctors who treated the child explained that she came in with a significant infection because of the prolonged presence of a foreign body in her body. (Shutterstock/Representational)

Anshul Solanki, Pari’s mother, says that around two weeks ago, Pari started a cough which, over the next few days, worsened with long bouts of congestion which often left her breathless. After a few days, Pari also developed a fever. The family initially thought the symptoms were of seasonal flu, but when she failed to get better, they decided to seek medical help.

“She (Pari) was a healthy child before this infection, with no past medical condition. That is why when she started with cough and a fever, we initially brushed it off as a viral infection, which happens to children this age. We still don’t know when she could have ingested the wrapper,” Anshul said.

Doctors who treated Pari explained that she came in with a significant infection because of the prolonged presence of a foreign body in her body. Experts also pointed out that if the wrapper was not detected in time, the child would have needed a lobectomy, which is a surgery to remove one of the lobes of the lungs or a portion of the infected lung.

“To diagnose the cause of her infection, we performed a bronchoscopy, and that’s when we found a piece of chocolate wrapper obstructing a segment of the right upper lobe bronchus. Once we knew the reason behind the infection, the treatment involved a two-step process—the initial bronchoscopy successfully removed the foreign body, while additional intervention addressed granulation tissue and foreign body reaction, ensuring the restoration of bronchial patency,” said Dr Akshay Budhraja, senior consultant and head of respiratory and sleep medicine at Aakash Healthcare Super Specialty Hospital, where the child was treated.

Dr Budhraja said that after the first round of procedure, Pari was administered antibiotics and steroids to manage the foreign body reaction and promote recovery. The medics then had to perform a follow-up bronchoscopy after five days check for residual infection only to find that she needed another procedure.

“The follow-up bronchoscopy revealed residual infection in one segment of the right upper lobe bronchus. We then had to perform an intervention using Argon Plasma Coagulation (APC) and forceps to address the lingering effects of the foreign body reaction,” he said.

APC, also referred to as argon photocoagulation, is a medical procedure that uses argon gas during a colonoscopy or an upper endoscopy to control bleeding from certain lesions in the gastrointestinal tract.

The child is currently stable and has been discharged.