Last Update: February 25, 2023, 00:06 IST
Infants and young children often swallow coins, toy batteries, small magnets, and drawing pins that are removed endoscopically. (Credits: Reuters)
It got stuck in the upper esophagus and he was unable to swallow anything. An endoscopy was immediately performed, which revealed a complicated condition, the statement said.
Doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) here successfully removed a bullet and its aluminum blister foil stuck in a man’s esophagus using an innovative endoscopic technique, a statement said on Friday.
The use of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy to remove foreign objects in the stomach is a common practice, especially in children.
It added that infants and young children often swallow coins, toy batteries, small magnets and drawing pins, which are removed endoscopically.
Cases of unintentionally swallowed dentures have been reported among the elderly. This requires emergency endoscopic intervention.
According to Anil Arora, president of the Institute of Liver, Gastroenterology and Pancreatico-Biliary Sciences, SGRH, a 61-year-old man came to the emergency room with severe chest discomfort after accidentally swallowing an aluminum blister foil-covered tablet.
It got stuck in the upper esophagus and he was unable to swallow anything. An endoscopy was immediately performed, which revealed a complicated condition, the statement said.
Dr Srihari Anikhindi, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Therapeutic Endoscopist said, “The tablet-intact foil was stuck in the narrowest part of the upper oesophagus, which did not allow any space for endoscopic maneuvering and removal.” The aluminum foil was very rigid and had sharp edges. Therefore, any forceful removal can easily damage the esophagus, leading to devastating complications such as perforation, hemorrhage, mediastinal infection and sepsis, which require emergency surgery, he said.
“Since removal directly from the site of impact (esophagus) was dangerous, we pushed the tablet slowly and gently with the foil intact into the stomach. This gives us enough room to operate the special instruments,” Dr Srihari Anikhindi said.
“Once it was inside the stomach, we pierced the aluminum foil using a special endoscopic needle and pushed the saline under pressure, which dissolved the tablet and all the contents came out of the foil into the abdominal cavity,” The doctor said.
Since the foil’s contents were now empty, this allowed doctors to bend it. This reduced the diameter and reversed the dangerous sharp edges.
Using a special accessory called an endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) cap attached to the endoscope, they were able to safely take out the folded aluminum foil through the mouth, it said.
“Surprisingly, this is the second time we have encountered such a case and have successfully used this approach on both the occasions. Such cases have not been reported in the literature,” Arora said.
“Since there is no standardized approach for such rare impacted foreign bodies, we had to think out of the box,” Arora said.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)