Faridabad: Doctors remove betel nut from 4-year-old's collapsed lung

Doctors at Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, saved a 4-year-old by removing a betel nut lodged in his airway for over a month. The object caused his lung to collapse, and he was misdiagnosed before a complex procedure successfully extracted it.

In a harrowing medical case that underscores the dangers of common household choking hazards, a team of specialists at Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, has successfully removed a piece of betel nut (supari) from the lung of a four-year-old boy. The foreign object had been lodged in the child's airway for over a month, causing his left lung to collapse and bringing him to the brink of respiratory failure.

A Month of Misdiagnosis

The child's ordeal began weeks earlier following an accidental inhalation of the betel nut. Despite the incident, the family and initially, the medical professionals he consulted, did not suspect a foreign body. For over a month, the boy suffered from a persistent cough and recurring fevers. He underwent repeated courses of antibiotics and was even placed on anti-tubercular medication when his condition failed to improve.

Doctors believed the betel nut initially caused pneumonia in the right airway before migrating to the left, where it became tightly impacted. The obstruction completely cut off air to the left lung, leading to total collapse and forcing the child onto mechanical ventilation.

Critical Intervention at Amrita Hospital

When the boy arrived at Amrita Hospital in critical condition, he was struggling to maintain oxygen levels despite 100% support. Recognising the extreme complexity of the case, a multidisciplinary team, comprising experts in pediatric intensive care, anaesthesia, and interventional pulmonology, immediately intervened.

"This was a very critical case," said Dr Sourabh Pahuja, Senior Consultant of Interventional Pulmonology. "The foreign body had completely obstructed the airway... Every minute mattered."

Using advanced airway equipment and a cryoprobe, a specialised tool that uses extreme cold to adhere to and extract objects, the team successfully dislodged the nut, which was surrounded by dense inflammatory tissue and pus.

Following the procedure, the child's lung slowly re-inflated, and he was eventually weaned off the ventilator, recovering fully enough to return home.

Doctors Urge Parental Vigilance

Dr Pahuja and his team are now urging parents to be hyper-vigilant regarding young children, who explore the world by putting objects in their mouths. Parents should avoid giving whole nuts, betel nuts, or seeds to children under five years of age. A persistent cough or recurring pneumonia following a suspected choking episode should never be ignored, even if the child initially appears fine. Delayed treatment of an inhaled foreign body can lead to severe, life-threatening complications. Always consult centres equipped for complex airway interventions if such an emergency is suspected.

The child is now breathing normally, an outcome that medical staff attribute to the swift, coordinated intervention of their specialist team.

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