Doctors from the Da Nang General Hospital had just endoscopically removed a 24x17mm pill in its plastic packaging from the trachea of a male patient.

The patient is expected to be discharged from the hospital in the coming days after recovering the bronchoscopy. Photo: PHAN CHUNG

As reported, 49-year-old patient dwelling in Cam Le District was rushed to the Da Nang General  Hospital by his family members due to a prolonged cough and difficulty breathing.

The patient said that, due to his chronic illness, he often took medicine. Notably, in 2019, he accidentally took the pill and ingested its plastic casing at the same time. After that, he felt a bit stuck without suffering shortness of breath, and since then, he had a persistent cough.

In March 2021, after having a prolonged cough and sore throat, the patient went to a local hospital where he was then diagnosed with acute pharyngitis and took medicine for nearly 1 year. But, his heath did not improved.

At the beginning of last April, the cough was still persistent, accompanied by shortness of breath, which prompted the patient to come to a private clinic. He underwent a chest computed tomography technique and followed-up diagnosis to detect if there was a foreign body in his tracheal.

After that, the man was transferred to the Department of Respiratory Internal Medicine - Allergy Immunology at the Da Nang General Hospital for treatment.

Doctors conducted bronchoscopy to pick up the compressed pill and its entire plastic casing in the patient’s trachea, about 3-4cm below the vocal cords, and the two ends of the medicine packaging are about 8mm deep into the anterior and posterior wall of the trachea.

As assessed by doctor Hoang Thi Tam, the Deputy Head of the Department of Respiratory Internal Medicine - Allergy Immunology, this is a serious medical case under which a patient choking on a foreign body lying in the trachea for a long time, and the granulation tissues proliferated and adhered tightly to the foreign body, which narrowed the airway. The location of the foreign body was located close to the vocal cords. The doctors used special tools to remove this object to avoid making the most of the damage to the respiratory tract while taking it out.

“To avoid such serious cases, people should not take many pills at once and pay special attention to removing all the packaging from the medicine. Also, they do not talk while taking medicine. Suspected cases of aspiration of any foreign body should immediately seek medical attention at a local medical facility to avoid serious complications caused by foreign bodies remaining in the lungs. The longer the foreign body stays in the lung, the more severe the complication is.”, said doctor Tam.

Currently, the patient's health is stable, with no difficulty breathing and much relief from sore throat. He is expected to be discharged from the hospital in the coming days.

Reporting by PHAN CHUNG – Translating by A.THU