In a rare and extraordinary medical case, doctors at a Mumbai hospital have given a new lease of life to a child in the city, after successfully removing a metal LED bulb lodged in his lung. It put an end to a three-month-long struggle with persistent cough and respiratory distress.

The three-and-half-year-old child had been suffering from what was initially diagnosed as pneumonia and was treated with multiple courses of antibiotics. Despite extensive care, his symptoms persisted, prompting advanced investigations, including a CT scan, which revealed a metallic foreign body lodged deep in the left bronchus.

Following unsuccessful attempts at flexible bronchoscopy in Kolhapur, the child was referred to doctors at Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre in Mumbai, where a rigid bronchoscopy revealed the embedded foreign object and a severely narrowed bronchus. Dr Vimesh Rajput and Dr Divya Prabhat performed a mini thoracotomy (4 cm cut) successfully removing the object — an LED bulb from a toy car — and restoring the child’s lung function. The surgery was supported by Dr Anurag Jain, who was the consultant, anesthesiology, during the surgery.