Stud removed from girl's lungs after one and a half year

A simple X-ray helped solve a problem a 12-year-old girl suffered for over one and a half years, a solution that eluded private hospitals in her hometown of Sirguppa in Ballari district.

One and a half years ago, Shanti was taken to several private hospitals in her hometown after she complained of persistant cough and irritation in the respiratory tract.

The symptomatic treatment failed as Shanti showed no signs of recovery. Then her family decided to seek a second opinion.

To her family’s surprise, an X-ray at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) here revealed that an “ear stud” the girl had inadvertently swallowed was the cause of the irritation.

Shanti had swallowed her ear stud comprising metallic and plastic parts and her family thought she would defecate it. Shanti’s brother, Ramu, said: “She told us that she had swallowed it while coughing. We did not worry much thinking it had entered her stomach. Doctors there said it was fluid accumulation in the lungs.”

Dr Shashidhar Buggi, director, RGICD, said the girl was brought to the hospital with severe infection and threw up foul smelling sputum.

“Had the doctors taken an X-ray and examined her thoroughly, she would not have suffered so much. Through an X-ray, we found that there was a foreign object resembling a pin. On questioning, she explained the incident,” he added.

The right lower lobe was infected and there was lung abscess. As there was fibrosis, an endoscopy could not be done, Dr Buggi added.

It took over four weeks to prepare Shanti for the surgery and she is now recovering at the hospital.

Doctors said in the past they have removed several foreign objects from patients’ lungs, including broken tooth, plastic toy, pieces of gold and small springs.