Mumbai: Infant swallows bunch of keys, doctors work magic

(From left) The seven-month-old baby with this uncle; the three keys that were removed; the surgical team at the Rajawadi hospital

Not just one but three keys, one of which had slipped into the nasal cavity, were extracted from the oral cavity of a seven-month-old infant who had accidentally swallowed them on Friday morning. A team of doctors at Rajawadi hospital demonstrated exemplary teamwork to save the life of the infant. Treating ENT surgeons say this is the rarest of rare cases, and they plan to document it in reputable journals soon.

Meanwhile, senior civic doctors acknowledged the decision of the corporation to start the DNB program at peripheral hospitals like Rajawadi. On Friday morning at 10.30 a.m., the infant was rushed to the hospital's casualty ward. ENT surgeons Dr Devika Shere and Dr Soopriya Yempalle, from the PG-Diploma DNB (ENT) program, were alerted during routine OPD cases.

Dr Devika detailed the challenges: "The main challenge was to avoid damaging tissues and arteries near the tonsils where the key ring was lodged. We successfully extracted two keys and the ring from the child's larynx and oropharynx. These keys nearly blocked the windpipe, causing severe choking. Dr Reena Nebu, the Anestehsia, HOD, played a crucial role in the entire surgical process."

She noted, "After removing these objects, we found another key lodged in the nasal cavity during further examination. This was the third key, likely slipping there during our initial attempts." Reflecting on the rarity of the case, she added, "In my 12-year career, this is the first and rarest case where three keys were removed from the oral cavity of a seven-month-old."

Mohammed Naseem, the infant's uncle, expressed gratitude, stating, "The doctors and staff at Rajawadi hospital acted swiftly and did everything possible to save Mohammed Raiyan." Naseem recounted the incident: "On Friday Raiyan, who was playing on the floor, picked up the keys dropped on the floor and swallowed it quickly."

He continued, "I had just stepped out on my motorcycle when I received the phone call informing me about the incident. I called my uncle, who rushed Raiyan to a nearby private hospital. They advised us to go to Shatabdi hospital, but we chose Rajawadi hospital because we prefer it for any health emergency." Sudhakar Shinde, additional commissioner (public health) of BMC, praised the hospital's teamwork, saying, "We are happy that the life of the baby was saved by the exemplary teamwork."

Anaesthesia HOD speaks

Dr Reena Nebu, the Anaesthesia, head of the department at Rajawadi said, "We had limited time and hence took the infant immediately to the operation theatre. He was brought in distress and was inconsolable crying aloud (a good sign, as crying is a protective reflex), it was certain that the airway was not blocked. And with continuous oxygenation and suctioning, the entire procedure was carried out to extract the foreign bodies, by ensuring that the oxygen saturation was maintained at 100 %. And only after the keys were extracted, I could give general anaesthesia to the infant, so that the ENT team could carry out a detailed endoscopy examination to rule out any serious internal wounds, if any and even X-ray chests were clear."

Dr Reena added, "It was fortunate that they keys were not smaller in size, or else it would have blocked the airway and choked the infant. We as a team could save a life, and we are happy about the same."

‘Doctors saved my nephew'

"The doctors and staff at Rajawadi hospital, acted swiftly and they did everything possible to save Mohammed Raiyan (seven months old), my nephew. Our family, will always remain embedded to them, and we would want to thank each of them," said Mohammed Naseem, a pharmacy student, and uncle of Raiyan, sitting beside him at the paediatric ward of the hospital.

When asked to elaborate, Naseem said, "My elder brother Mohammed Riyaz (32), returned from Saudi and was staying in new Mandala, Mankhurd with his family wife Salimunisa (28), their elder daughter Noorsaba (10) and Mohammed Raiyan (7 months), for last one year. Riyaz, owns a tempo and would leave early for work.

The incident

According to Naseem, on Friday morning around 10 am, Noorsaba, was asked to lock one of the mezzanine rooms, and she dropped the key after locking the room. Raiyan, who was on the floor, was playing and he picked the key bunch and swallowed it, within no time. Noorsaba, who witnessed this, immediately tried to remove the keys from Raiyan's mouth, but instead he gulped them.

"I had just stepped out on my motorcycle, when I received the phone call, informing me about the incident. I called my uncle who stays close by and he rushed Raiyan to a nearby private hospital, who advised us to rush the child to Shatabdi hospital in Govandi, but instead we brought him to Rajawadi hospital, we prefer visiting Rajawadi for any health emergency," said Naseem.

"The family is still in a state of shock and within no time, all our relatives including my elder brother Riyaz, reached the hospital. We have learnt a hard lesson, today. The doctors have returned the keys post extracting it from Raiyan's oral and nasal cavity, and we are still wondering, how he could have gulp three keys and ring within no time," said Naseem.