Doctors at the Tirupattur Government Hospital successfully removed a Rs 5 coin from the food pipe of a seven-year-old girl, Kanishree, on Sunday.
A seven-year-old girl, Kanishree, had a close shave on Sunday as doctors at the Tirupattur Government Hospital successfully removed a Rs 5 coin from the child's food pipe. The girl is said to have accidentally swallowed the coin, which was given to her by a relative, on Friday.
Initially, her parents, Siva and Lalitha, took Kanishree to a nearby hospital in Tirupattur. However, as the case required specialised attention, she was later referred to the Tirupattur Government Hospital on Sunday.
The case was assigned to Dr M Deepanand, an ENT specialist. But, as Deepanand had completed his weekly duty hours on Sunday and was planning to leave, the case landed in a bit of a bind. This was because anaesthetist Dr G Sudha, who often handles such procedures, could not manage the case alone.
Moreover, Dr Deepanand's presence was crucial as he had previously handled seven such cases of foreign objects being removed from food pipes at the hospital in recent years. Out of the seven cases, two involved coins being swallowed by children, one case involved a watch battery, two cases involved chicken bones getting stuck in the food pipe, and one case involved a large chunk of mutton getting stuck.
However, Dr Deepanand responded immediately and reached the hospital around 11 am. After about half an hour, Dr Deepanand, along with Dr Sudha and Dr Velmurugan, successfully carried out the procedure and removed the coin.
Later, speaking to TNIE, Dr KT Sivakumar, Chief Medical Officer of the hospital, praised Dr Deepanand for his response and commitment, despite being off duty, to return to the hospital and handle the case.
Meanwhile, speaking to TNIE, Dr Deepanand said that since he was nearby and it was an emergency, he quickly attended to it. He also mentioned that removing foreign objects from the food pipe is a fairly common procedure at the hospital.
“Usually, these objects enter the food pipe or esophagus. It becomes critical if they go into the windpipe,” he explained.
