The Da Nang General Hospital doctors have successfully removed a 3cm- long sharp iron nail from a male patent’s bronchi.

A doctor monitors the patient’s health after the 30-minute bronchoscopy to remove the iron nail in his left lung. Photo courtesy of the Da Nang General Hospital.

As reported, the 45-year- old bricklayer residing in the central province of Quang Ngai was keeping three nails in his mouth to make it easier to do the formwork when he accidentally swallowed one of them during talking with his co-workers.

After that, he had only a slight cough and no shortness of breath. Some days later, the patient decided to go to the Da Nang General Hospital for checkups.

After performing subclinical techniques, the doctors from the Department of Respiratory Internal Medicine - Allergic Immunology immediately conducted a 30-minute bronchoscopy to remove the pointed iron nail from the patient's left lung.

Currently, the patient's health is stable and he is about to be discharged from the hospital.

According to Doctor Hoang Thi Tam, Deputy Head of the Department of Respiratory Internal Medicine - Allergy Immunology, this is a challenging treatment case under which a patient inhaled a rather large and pointed object. The nail was lodged in a deep position and its tip faced up and slippery, so only specialised tools were used to get it out of the bronchi.

In order to prevent such occupational accidents, employees should follow safety principles at work, do not use their mouths to hold hard, sharp and round objects. Severe consequences cause damage to the respiratory tract due to ingesting foreign bodies.

When choking on a foreign object, people often try to spit it out, hook it up with their hands or use folk remedies to get it out. However, these ways make the condition worse, the already-inhaled object can get deeper and fall into a dangerous position.

Therefore, when accidentally swallowing an object, the patient should immediately go to the nearest medical facility for timely examination and treatment.

Reporting by PHAN CHUNG –Translating by A.THU