top of page

By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Surgery saves boy who gulped tiny LED bulb

Mumbai : In a bizarre development, a small boy from Kolhapur swallowed a tiny LED light bulb a few months ago that got stuck deep in his...

Surgery saves boy who gulped tiny LED bulb

Mumbai : In a bizarre development, a small boy from Kolhapur swallowed a tiny LED light bulb a few months ago that got stuck deep in his lung causing huge trauma and emotional stress for his family, officials said.   When the unusual case was referred to the Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre (JHRC), a team of medicos successfully extricated the foreign object lodged in the three-and-half-year-old boy’s chest.   Recounting the remarkable feat, a JHRC official said the child, Aarav Patil was reported to be suffering from severe breathing difficulties and incessant coughing for almost three months.   Doctors treating him at his home town initially mistook it for pneumonia and subjected him to multiple courses of antibiotics and other medicines, but there was improvement in the boy’s condition.   Subsequently, he was taken for advanced tests, examinations and a CT Scan which revealed the shocker – a metallic object was sitting inside the boy’s left bronchus, partially blocking the airway.   More tests identified the offending object – it was a LED bulb from a toy car – a development so rare that even seasoned doctors described it as a ‘one in a million case’.   Though doctors in Kolhapur attempted to retrieve the foreign body through flexible bronchoscopy - a minimally invasive procedure - the attempts proved to be unsuccessful.   As Aarav’s condition appeared to deteriorate, his desperate family rushed him to JHRC and he was referred to a team of specialist doctors.   After studying his case and examining Aarav, the medical team comprising thoracic surgeon Dr. Vimesh Rajput, ENT surgeon Dr. Divya Prabhat and Dr. Anurag Jain discovered that the bulb had not only blocked the bronchus but had also embedded itself in the surrounding tissues of the lung tissue, making its removal extremely challenging.   A rigid bronchoscopy conducted further confirmed the severity of the obstruction. Left with no other option, the doctors decided to opt for a mini thoracotomy — a delicate surgery involving a 4-centimeter incision in the chest.   “This was one of the rarest cases we’ve encountered. The bulb was lodged in such a way that conventional methods could not retrieve it. Through careful planning and teamwork, we managed to safely remove the object by a mini thoracotomy and restored Aarav’s lung function,” explained Dr. Rajput.   Emphasising how such cases are ignored, Dr. Prabhat pointed out that chronic cough or breathing issues are often dismissed as common pneumonia or even asthma.   “However, such persistent symptoms must always be investigated thoroughly, especially through early detection and imaging which can make all the difference to the patient,” she averred.   JHRC CMO Dr. Milind Khadke said, “The foreign body aspiration in kids is far more common that parents may realise but quick intervention is critical to prevent long-term medical complications.”

Divergent loyalties

Updated: Oct 30, 2024

BJP

Once lording over the BJP in North Maharashtra, the Khadse family has witnessed flip-flops, corruption cases and embarrassing situations in recent years. Sisters-in-law on opposite sides of the political spectrum while the patriarch, who was waiting to return to his parent party, was given the cold shoulder, forcing him to stay back where he is.


It surprised many and upset his followers when Eknath Khadse, a loyal BJP worker and former minister, quit the party and moved to the undivided NCP in 2020 on the heels of alleged corruption charges. He had started his career as a sarpanch of Kothali village and entered the legislative assembly for the first time in 1987 and since then, has won six consecutive elections till 2019 from the Muktainagar constituency in Jalgaon.


Until his fall from grace within the BJP in 2016, Khadse had been a BJP worker since the 1980s and helped grow the party’s base in North Maharashtra. He was made minister in 1995 during the Shiv Sena-BJP government and has held several key positions over the decades. He was the leader of the opposition between 2009 and 2014 and was commended for his efficient work. When the BJP won the elections in 2014, Khadse had openly shown his desire to become the chief minister. Charges of corruption in a land deal and accusations of misusing his office forced Khadse to resign from the government in 2016. Activist Anjali Damania had led the protest against him after a Pune-based realtor accused him of land grabbing and abusing his position as the revenue minister to get land at lower-than-market prices for his family. Even earlier, he was ridiculed for wasting water to create a temporary helipad for his tour of a drought-stricken Latur when the people were thirsty in the parched region.


In 2020, Khadse quit the BJP and joined the undivided NCP along with his daughter Rohini Khewalkar. Khadse’s party colleagues and workers resented his act of cornering key positions for his family members. While his wife was made director of Mahananda, a milk cooperative, his daughter-in-law Raksha has been a BJP Member of Parliament since 2014. Raksha, a three-time MP from Raver is now a minister state at the centre. Before his daughter Rohini followed him into the NCP, she had contested the assembly elections from Muktainagar in 2019 but had lost to the Shiv Sena candidate.


Earlier this year, Khadse had expressed a desire to be welcomed back into the BJP but the party showed no inclination.

Comments

bottom of page