Mumbai doctors remove 2-inch earring from infant’s windpipe

Khushi Soni swallowed the earring while playing at her Kurla residence last week.

In a life-saving procedure, doctors from BJ Wadia Hospital, Parel, removed a two-inch metal earring from an infant’s throat last week. Khushi Soni had accidentally swallowed the earring while playing at her home in Kurla. The earring got stuck in her windpipe, causing cough and breathlessness.

No surgery or tracheostomy was required to extract the earring. (HT photo)

After infection led to fever, Khushi’s parents rushed her to a paediatrician who prescribed medicines for cough and fever. She was taken to Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Sion, where an x-ray failed to spot a foreign object stuck in the windpipe. Khushi’s family, which had planned a grand party to celebrate her first birthday on Thursday, were worried that they may lose her.

Khushi was kept on a ventilator for three days, but was shifted to a private hospital after her condition worsened. Here too she needed life-support system for three days. Eventually, the infant was shifted to Wadia hospital. It was here the x-ray showed an earring stuck in the windpipe.

“Her condition was critical because even an endotracheal tube [a form of catheter which is inserted in the windpipe to maintain adequate exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide] increases the chances of infection. There was a major worry of injuries and infection caused by the object itself,” said Dr Divya Prabhat, head of ENT department, BJ Wadia Hospital.

After pinpointing the location of the earring, a team of anaesthetists and surgeons was put together to extract the object. Within 30 minutes of her admission, Khushi was shifted to the operation theatre.

“The endotracheal tube was removed, a bronchoscopy was performed and the foreign body [earring] was removed. No surgery or tracheostomy was thus required for this life saving emergency procedure. The child is breathing on her own and consuming food as well,” added Prabhat.

Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO of Wadia Hospitals, said such cases are critical in nature and at times need urgent attention.

“We took no time to address the situation and now the baby is out of danger. We are really happy that she celebrated her first birthday in our hospital on Thursday”. Khushi is likely to be discharged on Saturday.