In an extremely rare case, 14-month-old Infant gets a new lease of life at Fortis Ludhiana, post successful removal of 5-cm metallic nail fr

In an extremely rare case, 14-month-old Infant gets a new lease of life at Fortis Ludhiana, post successful removal of 5-cm metallic nail from small bowel

Mohali, November 18, 2021: In one-of-its-kind extremely rare case reported at Fortis Ludhiana, a team of doctors led by Dr. Nitin Shanker Behl gave a second life to Baby Pinky (Name changed) 1 year 2 months of age, who had accidentally swallowed a rusted metallic nail measuring 5 cms.

 The incident was reported on the morning of 22 October 2021. Baby Pinky just had her feed and was playing where she accidently swallowed a rusted metallic nail. She began crying hysterically leaving her parents in a state of confusion as they were not able to make what was suddenly wrong with the kid who was calmly playing a while back.  She was immediately taken to Fortis Ludhiana.

Patient Baby Pinky was immediately admitted to the emergency department. Post admission, she was evaluated by team of paediatricians lead by Dr. Gaurav Mittal and advised investigations. Post investigations reports revealed a long metallic nail in the small bowel.  An immediate therapeutic endoscopy was planned where it was decided to operate the baby through an endoscopy surgery. Innovative endoscopic technique for removal was used by Dr. Nitin Behl and the anaesthesia team who sedated the baby.

 Dr. Nitin Shanker Behl, Additional Director, Gastroenterology, Fortis Hospital Ludhiana said “The nail was accidentally swallowed orally, thus not much harm was caused to the external organs, However it did injure the internal organs during its passage by causing mucosal injuries and was seen to be lying in distal duodenum (small intestine). It was technically challenging as it had gone into small bowel and had sharp serrated end which tends to damage internal organs. The crux in these type of cases is safe removal of the external object with minimal sedation

(anaesthesia) and minimal damage to internal organs. A special paediatric endoscope was used along with a protective over tube to prevent any further injuries to the internal organs during the surgery. It was removed safely with minimal mucosal injury and no post procedure complications were seen. The patient is doing well post the surgery and was able to immediately accept fluids orally.”

 Dr. Vishavdeep Goyal, Zonal Director, Fortis Hospital Ludhiana congratulated the team of doctors. Dr. Goyal said “Foreign bodies taken by the oral route lead to severe morbidity and mortality by entering into the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. Therefore, these cases need to be evaluated urgently. The nail ingested in this case was sharp, rusted and huge in size and volume.  What made the case complicated was the age of the patient. The doctors team led by Dr. Behl adopted the correct line of treatment thus giving a second life to the kid and hope to the family, who had given up on the chances of survival of the kid”

While, cases related to successful removal of metallic objects in patients have been reported earlier, the successful removal of the 5 cms metallic nail from a 14 months old infant is one of its kind and stands testimony to the clinical expertise of the Gastroenterology team and the advanced medical infrastructure at Fortis Ludhiana.