Teen undergoes an hour-long procedure for removal of safety pin stuck in lungs

Navi Mumbai: A 13-year-old girl, who accidentally swallowed a safety pin while removing her headscarf on July 20, underwent a 50-minute procedure in which the pin, stuck in her lungs, was successfully removed by the doctors at a Kharghar hospital.
The teen, a resident of Rajapur, Ratnagiri district, was saved after her family rushed her to hospital on time. “My niece returned from school on July 20 and while removing her scarf she put the head of the safety pin in her mouth. While hanging the scarf to a drying rope she accidentally swallowed the pin. We rushed her to a local hospital. She underwent an endoscopy to see where the pin was lodged. Initially, the doctors assumed the object was inside her stomach but that was not the case,” said her uncle Asif Mujawar.
The pin was eventually found to be lodged in her lungs via an X-ray. Doctors at Ratnagiri said the process of retracting the object would be complicated and needed advanced technology and expertise. The family was asked to seek medical treatment elsewhere.
“We were initially asked to head to Kolhapur. However, we decided to discuss the matter with our relatives in Mumbai and they suggested we come to Navi Mumbai for treatment,” said the relative. On July 21, the family arrived at Kharghar and got the girl admitted to Medicover hospitals in Kharghar. The X-ray revealed that the pin was lodged in the left side of the lung. She was taken for emergency bronchoscopy, a process wherein a pulmonologist retrieves objects lodged within the lungs with the help of a narrow tube.
“It was a case of emergency and challenging as the pin was wedged in the lower part of the lung and the sharp end of the pin was embedded into the wall of the airways of the lung. With a lot of patience, the pin was removed,” said Dr Shahid Patel, consultant pulmonologist, at Medicover Hospitals.
The patient was discharged the same day after the procedure without any complications. Aspiration of foreign bodies into the lung is uncommon as compared to ingestion into the food pipe.
“Our decision to come to Navi Mumbai turned out to be correct because the whole process was done at ease. The biggest factor was that the pin was not only removed but also, she was discharged on the same day itself,” added the relative.