A 78-year-old man Chembur resident had a medical scare when the metallic dental cap he was wearing accidentally slipped into his lungs during a dental procedure. The senior citizen was immediately rushed to Zen Multi-Speciality Hospital, where a bronchoscopy was performed to successfully extricate the dental cap within 15 minutes.
The bronchoscopy was performed by Dr Abhijit Ahuja and his team. The incident happened just before Diwali when the man (who did not wish to be named) had gone for a routine dental check-up. During treatment at a clinic at Chembur, his dental cap accidentally slipped down his throat. The dentist tried to remove the cap but it just slipped inside.
Dr Ahuja, interventional pulmonologist and chest medicine specialist, told mid-day, “The patient is old and was very scared. His dentist rushed him for a CT scan and they found the metallic dental cap near his right lung. It was very close to obstructing his breathing.
Dr Ahuja added, “We immediately formed a team including anaesthetists and endoscopy technicians, and performed a flexible bronchoscopy under local anaesthesia with mild sedation. With the help of endoscopic forceps, we successfully removed the object in under 10 minutes without the need for any surgical incision.” “We also discharged the patient after two hours as there was no lung injury or infection found during treatment. The patient is safe and out of danger,” Dr Ahuja said.
