What started off as a normal feeding process became a life-threatening incident for two babies in Faridabad, who just managed to survive when they inhaled food particles that choked their airways. Two babies were rushed to Amrita Hospital in critical condition just hours apart on the occasion of Makar Sankranti in Faridabad.
The first case involved a one-year & three-months old child who presented with persistent coughing and dyspnea (shortness of breath) for almost a week. However, his condition kept deteriorating despite continuous treatment at another facility. Upon his arrival at Amrita Hospital’s emergency department, his condition indicated that he could have breathing difficulties with a compromised airway. Following stabilization in PICU, emergency bronchoscopy revealed a bolus of peanuts sitting in his right main air passage, completely occluding airflow to his lung.
Senior Consultant of Pulmonary Medicine, Dr. Sourabh Pahuja, explained, “Organic food items like peanuts swell when they come in contact with moisture inside the airway”. Also, she added, “In this case, the lung was not receiving air at all. Any further delay could have resulted in lung collapse, severe infection, or fatal oxygen failure.”
The peanut was successfully extracted, and the child's saturations began to improve rapidly afterward. The child was discharged the following day in a stable condition. However, a far more serious emergency was rushed in just a few short hours later—an eight-month-old infant with severely low saturations at only 40 percent, which is a life-threatening saturation level in itself. The infant had been ill for almost 10 days, with a foreign object visible on imaging in the lower part of the left lung.
"There was no time to wait," said Dr. Pahuja. "The baby was not able to sustain its oxygen levels. Each minute counted."
The child was directly transferred to the operating theatre. Due to the blocked airway and low residual oxygen time available, the procedure was extremely difficult. But once the standard procedure yield was reached, cryotherapy technology was employed to remove the foreign organic matter.
Due to irritation and swelling in the airway, the child was under intensive observation for a few days prior to stabilization and subsequent discharge. Both situations were dealt with a multidisciplinary approach conducted under the supervision of Dr. Sourabh Pahuja, Dr. Maninder Singh Dhaliwal, Principal Consultant, PICU & Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, and a pediatric anaesthesiology team.
“Foreign body aspiration in infants is one of the most complex pediatric emergencies,” said Dr. Maninder Singh Dhaliwal. “These children have limited residual stores of oxygen when they present to us,” he added.
The doctors at Amrita Hospital have asked parents to exercise extreme caution, saying that such cases are more prevalent than is realised, with the resulting deaths often being caused by late detection.
Both kids are now recovered—thanks to proper referral, medical acumen, and timely intervention at Amrita Hospital, Faridabad.
