Mumbai hospital removes zipper stopper from 10monthold’s food pipe

The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. Karnataka Today Your daily dose of news highlights from Karnataka First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Published - May 23, 2025 03:02 pm IST - MUMBAI A sharp metallic zipper stopper of a handbag that was removed from the food pipe of a 10-month-old child. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement A 10-month-old boy in Mumbai was successfully treated after he had swallowed a sharp metallic zipper stopper of a handbag that was stuck in his food pipe for over two weeks. The infant’s father, Abhinay Jadhav (name changed), found that his son was having a cough and irritability for which he was taken to a pediatrician. Even after two weeks of treatment his symptoms of coughing and crying during feeding only worsened. A chest X-ray revealed a metallic object stuck in the food pipe. The panicked parents brought the boy to Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital For Children where the doctors found that the metallic foreign body was lodged in the mid esophagus at the level of T2-T4 vertebrae close to blood vessels of the heart. It was also causing noticeable compression on the windpipe of the child. The parents said that they were unaware of when or how the child had ingested the object. A team of doctors headed by Dr. Balagopal Kurup performed an hour-long procedure and safely removed the object. Dr. Kurup, ENT and Pediatric Otorhinolaryngologist, Wadia Hospital, said, “The child underwent esophagoscopy under general anesthesia. The procedure lasted about an hour. An additional bronchoscopy, an endoscopy of windpipe, showed mid-tracheal compression but there was no tear.” Esophagoscopy revealed ulceration and swelling around the impacted sharp-edged foreign body at the mid-esophageal level, Dr. Kurup added, “Our pediatric anaesthesia team secured the airway, and the foreign body was carefully removed. Due to ulceration seen on the left lateral wall of the esophagus where the object was lodged, a Ryles tube was inserted under vision beyond the ulcer to prevent any complications from a suspected esophageal tear. However, postoperative X-rays were normal.” The child was managed in the Intensive Pediatric Care Unit (IPCU) following the procedure. “Ryle’s tube feeding was initiated on the second postoperative day. The child did well and underwent an additional confirmatory dye study to rule out esophageal tear by our pediatric surgery team and was discharged in five days,” he said. This case highlights the importance of timely intervention and the availability of advanced pediatric endoscopic facilities. Mr. Jadhav said that they were in shock and could not understand how it had happened. “As parents, nothing prepares you for the shock of hearing that your baby has a sharp object lodged deep inside his body, especially when you never even saw it happen. We were devastated and overwhelmed with fear, not knowing how something like this could have occurred or what the outcome would be. The thought that our child was silently suffering for days broke our hearts. Watching him slowly recover, eat again, and smile has been the most emotional and relieving experience of our lives and for that we are forever grateful to the doctors,” he said. Dr. Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO of the hospital said that the timely detection and successful removal reflects not only the clinical excellence of our surgical team but also the robust systems in place that prioritize safety and precision. Terms & conditions  |  Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.