Senior citizen swallowes aluminium blister foil tablet stuck in food pipe but gangaram hospital doctors saved without surgery

New Delhi. You must have heard about small children swallowing coins, battery cells in toys, small magnets, drawing pins, etc., which are taken out of the stomach by endoscopic technique but recently In India, a case of doing the same by a 61-year-old man has come to the fore. The elderly accidentally swallowed a tablet containing aluminum blister foil but the problem occurred when instead of going into the stomach, the tablet got stuck in the food pipe (esophagus). The patient’s condition worsened as soon as the bullet got stuck in the esophagus. Along with chest pain, the elderly started drooling.

Seeing the deteriorating condition of the elderly patient, he was immediately brought to Sir Gangaram Hospital in Delhi. Where the gastroenterologists of the Institute of Liver, Gastroenterology and Pancreatico-Biliary Sciences (ILGPS) of the hospital were surprised to see. The condition of the patient was so bad that he could not swallow anything. Were spitting again and again. In such a situation, endoscopy was done immediately for the patient.

Prof. Anil Arora and Dr. Srihari Anikhindi Consultant Gastroenterologist & Therapeutic Endoscopist, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital reported that the whole tablet (pill packed in aluminum blister foil) was badly stuck in the narrowest part of the esophagus, which could be pulled out with endoscopic techniques. There was no option available anywhere to remove. The aluminum foil was very hard and had sharp edges. That’s why there was a danger of easy bursting of the food pipe on applying even a little force. Due to which dangerous complications like excessive bleeding in the food pipe, mediastinal infection, sepsis could arise, and such a situation would also require an emergency surgery immediately.

However, the team of doctors of ILGPS found a new way. Since it was too dangerous to remove or dislodge the aluminum foil directly from the esophagus, the tablet was pushed very slowly towards the stomach with the aluminum foil stuck in the stomach. Dr. Srihari Anikhindi says that this gave doctors enough space to operate specialized equipment. When it was inside the stomach, a hole was pierced in the aluminum foil using a special endoscopic needle and saline was poured under pressure. This dissolved the inside of the tablet and the entire contents came out of the foil into the abdominal cavity. Since the contents of the foil were now empty, it was now possible to fold the aluminum foil back on itself. This reduced the diameter and reversed the dangerous sharp edges.

Eventually using a special accessory called an endoscopic mucosal resection cap attached to the endoscope, we were able to safely take out the folded aluminum foil through the mouth. In the face of a difficult and uncertain situation, it was a pleasure to safely and successfully quickly remove aluminum foil from the esophagus without surgery using a safe and innovative technique.

Professor Anil Arora said that surprisingly, this is the second time we are facing such a case and have been successful using this approach on both the occasions. Such cases were never recorded in the medical literature. Since there is no standardized approach for such rare cases, we had to think out of the box. We were able to safely remove the dangerous aluminum foil from the body while ensuring the safety of the internal organs of the food pipe, stomach and throat. At Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, we have a well-trained, highly skilled team that can handle such difficult situations tactfully.

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Tags: Gangaram Hospital, Senior Citizens