Ohmatdyt Surgeons Saved a Boy with a Skewer Piece Stuck in His Esophagus
🩻 Labored breathing, active salivation, and fear. Surgeons at our Center successfully operated on a 14-year-old boy with a foreign body in the esophagus — a piece of skewer meat.
The 14-year-old boy was brought to the Children’s Hospital “Ohmatdyt” emergency department. During dinner, he swallowed a large piece of skewer meat that got stuck in his esophagus. The child developed swallowing difficulties, active salivation, could not swallow his saliva, felt significant discomfort, fear, and labored breathing.
“The esophagus naturally narrows in certain places: at the neck level, near the aorta, and at the entrance to the stomach. In this case, the piece of meat stopped at the second narrowing. Saliva is continuously produced but cannot pass, causing excessive salivation, a feeling of a foreign body behind the breastbone, and fear. The child could not breathe normally,” said thoracic surgeon from our Center Oleksandr Kolodiy.
Surgery and Its Results
The surgery was conducted at night — at 2:00 AM, the boy was urgently taken to the operating room where a team of specialists performed rigid esophagoscopy. The intervention lasted about an hour: the large piece of meat was removed in stages to avoid damaging the esophageal walls.
“This is very delicate surgical work. Caution is required to avoid causing esophageal perforation,” explains thoracic surgeon Oleksandr Kolodiy.
❗️Such cases occur quite often, doctors note. Most commonly, patients swallow pieces of meat, while smaller children might have small toys, batteries, coins, or construction set details in their esophagus.
✅ Fortunately, the operation was successful. After careful observation in the hospital, the boy was discharged in satisfactory condition. He will continue to be monitored by specialists.
Team of Specialists
🔎 The operating team was led by thoracic surgeon Oleksandr Kolodiy. The surgical intervention also involved intern pediatric surgeon Olga Kononova and anesthesiologist Maryana Sobko.
We are grateful to our specialists for their professionalism, coordinated work, and saving a child’s life!
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