At the Clinical Children’s Medicine Centre, doctors saved a three-year-old girl from Sheptytskyi Street who had a sharp construction screw lodged in her bronchi. The foreign body was detected on an X-ray at the local hospital, after which the child was urgently transferred to the regional facility.
The girl arrived at the centre with a severe cough, shortness of breath and marked anxiety. Due to the high risk of bronchial damage, perforation and bleeding, the medical team immediately took the patient to the operating theatre, where thoracic surgeons carried out an emergency procedure.
“The screw was sharp and quite long for a child of that age. The longer a foreign body remains in the bronchi, the more the mucosa becomes swollen and the inflammatory process intensifies,” explained the Centre’s thoracic surgeon, Oleksandr Kolodii.
The team of doctors managed to remove the screw from the airways without complications. The very next day, the child was discharged home in a satisfactory condition.
The mother said that her daughter had pulled the construction screw out of the skirting board at home on her own. Doctors emphasise that all small, sharp and construction items must be kept out of children’s reach. If a child suddenly develops a cough, shortness of breath or pronounced restlessness, medical attention should be sought immediately.
Specialists from the Children’s Medicine Centre of Okhmatdyt Hospital and the Western Ukrainian Specialized Centre took part in the child’s treatment.