Doctors at Gandhi Medical College (GMC) and Hamidia Hospital saved the life of a five-year-old mute and deaf child by successfully performing a highly challenging and sensitive operation. This child cannot speak or hear. A broken part of a toothbrush was trapped inside his throat in an extremely dangerous manner. According to medical experts, the broken upper part of the toothbrush had lodged behind the palate, and its sharp end was embedded in the tonsil. Due to this, the child was facing severe difficulty in breathing and swallowing anything. Doctors performed the operation timely and removed the part of the toothbrush. Fortunately, this eliminated the need for making an incision in the throat (tracheostomy). This incident happened on Thursday morning when the child was brushing. During that time, the toothbrush suddenly broke, and its upper part went into the throat. The anxious family members reached Hamidia Hospital with him after several hours. By then, his palate had swollen significantly, and his mouth was filled with blood and saliva. Due to continuous drooling and the inability to swallow anything, the child’s condition was deteriorating rapidly. Administering anaesthesia was the biggest risk: Talking to ‘The Hitavada’, Dr Smita Soni, Professor and Head of the ENT Department, explained that administering anaesthesia (making him unconscious) was a highly risky task due to the accumulation of blood and saliva in the child’s mouth. If there had been even a slight mistake during intubation (inserting a tube into the windpipe), his windpipe could have been completely blocked, which would have proved fatal. Recognising the gravity of the situation, the team of doctors took an immediate decision to operate.

 

Although getting an operation theatre (OT) so quickly is difficult on normal days, the patient was shifted to the OT immediately considering his critical condition. Dr Kirti Y K, Assistant Professor in the ENT Department, stated that during the surgery, it was seen that the piece of the toothbrush was stuck horizontally in the throat, and its sharp part was piercing the tonsil. Pulling it straight out posed a risk of severe bleeding and serious damage to the internal parts of the throat. Showing great presence of mind, the doctors’ team first rotated the piece very carefully and slowly to make it vertical, and then took it out safely through the mouth. The doctor explained that if the tube could not be inserted into the windpipe through the mouth, a tracheostomy would have to be performed by making an incision in the throat. However, due to the efforts of the experts, this was not required, and the child’s airway was secured. This complex operation was successfully executed by a joint team of Dr Smita Soni, Dr Kirti Y K, Dr Sonal Awasthi, and Dr Vandana, along with the resident doctors of the ENT and Anaesthesia departments. Doctors say that the child could get a new life only due to the co-ordination of both departments and reaching the hospital on time. Experts issue advisory for parents: Medical experts have appealed to parents to always give small children correct toothbrushes made according to their age and to keep a strict watch on them while brushing. They warned that if any foreign object gets stuck in the throat, parents should never try to remove it themselves. Instead, take the child to the nearest hospital immediately, because even a little delay in such cases can be fatal.