• Mou Mou
• 14 Feb, 2025

A remarkable medical feat has been achieved at Burdwan Medical College where doctors successfully removed a pen cap stuck in a child’s windpipe without open lung surgery. The 7 year old initially treated at Arambagh Medical College was referred to Burdwan due to complications. Instead of traditional methods doctors used a unique alternative marking a potential breakthrough in medical science.

A Life-Threatening Situation

On February 7th, a 7 year old boy from Hajipur, Arambagh accidentally swallowed a pen cap while playing. The cap got lodged in his windpipe causing severe breathing difficulties. He was immediately rushed to Arambagh Medical College where doctors attempted to remove it but failed. With the child’s condition worsening he was referred to Burdwan Medical College.

A New Approach to a Critical Surgery

Typically such cases require ‘bronchoscopy’ to remove foreign objects from the airway. However, in this instance, the pen cap was ‘stuck in an unusual position’ making the standard method ineffective. The only other conventional solution was ‘open lung surgery’ which Burdwan Medical College was not equipped for and transferring the child to another facility was deemed too risky.

Faced with this challenge a team of expert doctors including ‘Ritam Roy, Asim Sarkar, Subhadeep Sarkar and Bikash Bishoyi’ devised an alternative technique. Instead of opening the lungs, they created a small incision in the windpipe and used a nasal endoscope to extract the pen cap. This innovative method saved the child’s life without invasive surgery.

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Impact & Recognition

This first of its kind procedure has drawn significant attention from the medical community. Burdwan Medical College doctors are now considering publishing this ground breaking technique in medical journals to help doctors worldwide.

Dr. Tapas Kumar Ghosh, the superintendent of Burdwan Medical College, stated 

“Such a procedure has never been performed here before. Usually when bronchoscopy fails, open lung surgery is the last resort. But our team successfully avoided that risk by using a pioneering method.”

The success of this surgery highlights the growing expertise and innovation in Indian medical institutions. This case not only saved a child's life but also introduced a new less invasive approach that could redefine airway obstruction treatments in the future.