Schoolboy recovers after coin removed from throat

An eight-year-old suffering from recurrent coughing and drooling triggered by a tear in his food pipe after he swallowed a coin made a complete recovery and has started attending school after a complicated procedure at a private hospital here.

The coin had been stuck in the boy’s throat for three days before he was brought to HCMCT Manipal Hospitals in southwest Delhi’s Dwarka. The child was suffering from recurrent cough and drooling. Upon diagnosis, doctors found that he was suffering from a rare and complicated condition called esophageal perforation (a tear in the food pipe). A tear in his esophagus caused a leak in his lungs, leading to pleural effusion and bronchial pneumonia, the hospital said.

Dr Sufla Saxena, senior consultant paediatric gastroenterologist and hepatologist, performed the procedure to remove the coin from the boy’s throat. A nasogastric tube (NG tube) was also inserted for food and medications, it added.

Dr Saxena said, ”The tear in his food pipe and the leakage of fluid in his lungs made this case extremely challenging. If the child had not been treated on time, it could have led to mortality or permanent damage to his food pipe. ”The child has started eating food orally and now, after a month, has recovered completely and is attending school regularly.”