A 10-year-old Mumbai girl got a fresh lease of life after doctors at a private hospital extracted a 3-cm long pointed metal pin she had accidentally swallowed nearly two years ago, officials said on 24 February.

The foreign body was detected when the girl started getting a dry cough while sleeping in certain positions, raising fears of COVID-19 among her family. They took her to the Zen Multispeciality Hospital which conducted an x-ray on the girl's chest to make a shocking discovery. "To our utter surprise, the chest x-ray revealed a metallic foreign body in the lower airway (the breathing tube) on the left side. A CT-scan was performed to determine the precise location of the foreign object," said ENT Surgeon Dr. Kshitij Shah.

Dr. Shah and his team of Dr. Shalaka Dighe, Dr. Sagar Warankar, Dr. Pramod Kale and others attempted to initially extricate the foreign body by flexible bronchoscopy, but later decided on performing a rigid bronchoscopy to remove the pin. The hour-long surgery involved gaining access to the patient's airway using a hollow metallic tube under general anesthesia, he explained. "The foreign body was successfully removed without any complications or leaving any external scars on her body. She recovered quickly and was discharged after two days," Dr. Shah said.

The relieved father said that his daughter had accidentally swallowed the pin nearly two years ago and an x-ray of the abdomen which failed to reveal the foreign object. "Everybody forgot about that incident. My daughter's life was smooth until she started complaining of dry cough after one-and-half years, while sleeping in certain positions," said the father. Worried about COVID after seeing the dry cough bouts, the family took her to the hospital which helped detect the pin lodged in her chest for almost two years. "The child was hale and hearty in a couple of hours after surgery and discharged 48 hours later," said Dr. Shah. The family is grateful to the hospital for promptly treating their little girl and also urged all parents to keep their small kids away from such sharp, tiny or metallic objects like pins, coins, etc., as a safety precaution.