Warning for Parents: Infant Requires Surgery for Soybean Seed and Coconut Piece in Trachea
A successful surgery was performed at Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad to remove foreign bodies from the abdomen of two children in a week-long operation. One child had swallowed a soyabean seed, while the other had ingested a piece of wire in the trachea. The surgery to remove the foreign bodies was successfully conducted by the surgeons at Civil Hospital.
A three-year-old girl from Khodabhai’s family in Mahesana experienced severe breathing distress suddenly while playing on April 1, 2024, when a soyabean seed got stuck in her windpipe. Concerned about the seed getting lodged in her respiratory tract after her mother, Manishaben, fed her the soyabean seed, they rushed her to Mahesana Civil Hospital around 7 p.m. on the same evening. Due to continuous oxygen requirement caused by difficulty in breathing, she was referred to a private hospital from Mahesana Civil on April 5, 2024. During the five days of admission to the private hospital, Arya underwent a chest CT scan (HRCT thorax), which revealed that an object was stuck in the lower part of her windpipe.
After the soyabean seed was removed from her windpipe, Arya was referred for further care to the 1200-bed Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad. There, she underwent bronchoscopy performed by the pediatric surgeon Dr. Jayshree Ramji, Professor, Dr. Smitha (Professor), and Dr. Nilesh (Associate Professor) along with the anesthesia team. Arya’s mother’s concerns were confirmed to be true during the bronchoscopy, where the soyabean seed was successfully extracted from her windpipe. Following the operation, Arya gradually recovered from her breathing distress, and she was discharged in good health without any postoperative complications.
In the second story, Sumran Shahid and Munizaben’s 18-month-old son Ali experienced sudden breathing difficulty and coughing on April 18. Concerned about a piece of something stuck in her son’s windpipe, Ali’s mother Muniza immediately informed a private ENT surgeon in Somnath. From there, they were referred to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. Dr. Rakesh Joshi, Head of the Pediatric Department, and the Medical Superintendent along with the team from the Anesthesia Department, Prof. Dr. Smitha and Associate Prof. Dr. Nilesh performed bronchoscopy to remove the suspected foreign body from Muniza’s son. After the operation, during the postoperative period, as the child gradually recovered, he was discharged in good health.
Dr. Rakesh Joshi, the Civil Superintendent, emphasized that in infants, incidents of foreign bodies getting lodged in the windpipe often occur, and if not timely detected and operated upon, they can lead to fatalities. Therefore, he advised parents of young children to pay special attention to ensuring that their children do not come in contact with such objects. He mentioned that due to the vigilance and awareness of the mothers in both cases, timely action was taken, ultimately saving the lives of both children.
