On December 24, Da Nang Hospital said that doctors from the Department of Respiratory - Allergy Immunology, Da Nang Hospital had just successfully endoscoped the bronchial gland and removed the foreign object, two prosthetic teeth, inhaled into the airway and remained in the patient's lungs for more than 20 years, causing recurrent pneumonia for many consecutive years.
Previously, patient Nguyen Duc H (born in 1976, residing in Thang An commune, Da Nang city) was transferred from a lower-level hospital to Da Nang Hospital in a state of fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. According to medical history, patient H. had prosthetic teeth at the age of 22. A year later, the patient unfortunately lost both teeth but the cause was unknown and there was no specialist examination.
During the following years, the patient began to have recurrent pneumonia 1-2 times a year, mainly buying medicine for self-treatment, without taking a chest X-ray or undergoing in-depth check-ups at the hospital.
Recently, the patient appeared with a lot of coughing and fever, went to a lower-level hospital for examination, took a chest CT scan and discovered a foreign object in the airway, suspected to be metal, so he was transferred to Da Nang Hospital for intensive treatment.
At Da Nang Hospital, after examination and consultation, doctors diagnosed a foreign object in the airway that had existed in the lungs for a long time. Master of Pharmacy Nguyen Ba Hung, Deputy Head of the Department of Respiratory - Allergy Immunology, Da Nang Hospital, said that because the foreign object has been neglected for more than 20 years, accompanied by dense inflammation and collapsed lungs, the risk of foreign object sticking tightly to the bronchial lining is very high, the treatment team prioritizes antibiotic treatment and active anti-inflammatory to control infection, reduce edema, and limit complications during the intervention.
After the inflammation improved, the patient underwent bronchial endoscopy. The intervention process recorded the foreign object as two prosthetic teeth, which had been stuck for a long time in the bronchial cavity. The bronchial endoscopy team of the Department of Respiratory - Allergy coordinated smoothly, using specialized tools to successfully remove foreign objects in the lungs, ensuring absolute safety for the patient.
After endoscopy, the patient's respiratory condition improved significantly, the fever died, the cough was reduced and he was discharged from the hospital.
Doctor Nguyen Ba Hung recommends that people need to be especially careful in their daily diet and activities, especially when they are holding small objects such as medicine stitches, nails, toothpickles, fruit seeds, etc. These foreign objects can easily get into the airway while talking, laughing, coughing or sleeping, causing health risks.
When suspected of inhaling a foreign object or having unusual symptoms such as prolonged cough, possible coughing up blood, recurrent pneumonia, shortness of breath, fever of unknown cause, the patient needs to go to a medical facility with a respiratory specialist for examination, X-ray, CT scan and timely treatment, avoid being subjective because the foreign object in the airway that has been left unused for a long time can cause severe lung damage and potentially have many dangerous complications.
