Bengaluru: Columbia Asia Hospital doctors remove dental file from patient's lung sans surgery

Bengaluru: 70-year-old Ashok had developed dental problems and he was visiting his regular dentist for the root canal treatment. During one of the sittings for root canal treatment, Ashok accidentally aspirated a 3-4 cm long sharp dental file used for the procedure.

Ashok was immediately rushed to the emergency unit of Columbia Asia Hospital, Sarjapur Road. Dr. Gangi Reddy, Consultant - Pulmonologist with the hospital conducted the medical evaluation and suggested a CT scan of the chest. The dental file was found in the left lung of the patient.

While talking about the case, Dr Gangi Reddy said, "When the patient came to us with the condition, he was suffering from discomfort in chest. After thorough clinical evaluation of the CT scan and location of the object in the left lung, we proceeded with bronchoscopy and safely extracted the file without any surgical procedure. The object was there in Ashok's lung for almost eight hours."

Ashok said, "I was really scared after aspirating the file. Doctors at Columbia Asia Hospital have removed the object successfully." After the procedure, Ashok was discharged from the hospital.