7-month-old treated after bean seed led to breathlessness

CHENNAI: A seven-month-old female child suffering from severe breathlessness after she swallowed a bean seed was operated and treated at a private hospital recently. In an unusual instance, the seed had gotten stuck in the windpipe blocking the airway.

The child, playing with bean seeds accidently swallowed a bean seed and was struggling for breath. She was brought to Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre emergency on Monday morning by her mother, a daily wager from suburban Nerkundram.

The doctors examined the child and found that a bean seed had gotten stuck in the windpipe and required immediate intervention.

The doctors at the pediatric surgery department diagnosed it as foreign body swallowing and with oxygen level going down to 40 per cent, the baby was rushed to the operation theatre. The seed was removed from the wind pipe through bronchoscopy within 30 minutes of arrival, said Dr Prakash Agarwal, head of department, paediatric surgery at the Centre. He performed the procedure and the treatment was done free of cost.

“Foreign body in the wind pipe (bronchus) is a life threatening problem, which if untreated, will lead to collection of air in the lung, which gets trapped due to the block. At times it results in rupture of lung and leakage of air (Pneumothorax), especially if there is considerable delay in treatment. Children below 4 years should not be given cereals and nuts in full form because their body is not habituated to chew and swallow them properly, leading on to aspiration into the wind pipe, endangering the life," said Dr. Prakash Agarwal.