2-year-old saved in UAE after nuts get stuck in bronchial tubes

Ras Al Khaimah - The child was eating chocolate with six pieces of nuts in it.

A two-year-old Arab child, based in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, has luckily had a narrow escape after six nuts got stuck in his bronchial tubes.
The child was eating chocolate with six pieces of nuts in it, when his colour suddenly turned blue, started coughing and could not breathe properly.
Having noticed their son's unstable and serious condition, the parents and relatives present rushed him to the Saqr public hospital for treatment and medical care.
The boy, identified as Osama Abdullatif Al Hariri, was admitted to the intensive care unit where he was subjected to urgent procedures and thorough medical examinations for 24 hours.
The child, having not recovered despite the intensive medical care, was moved to the radiology section for scans, particularly as the parents told the doctors in charge that their son had been eating a chocolate with nuts in it before the mishap.
Mohammed Rashid bin Arsheed, Saqr hospital manager, said the doctors concerned managed to locate six nuts blocking his air passage. "They were stuck in the right and left bronchial tubes as well as in the tracheal bronchus under the larynx."
Though the child was first given some medicine based on the initial diagnosis of inhalation injury, he did not get better for 24 hours, he added. "The medical team decided to do an urgent surgery and put the boy under general anesthesia."
The child immediately got better after the bronchoscopy procedure, he stated. "He was then closely monitored until he totally recovered and his condition became stable."
Late last April, a 12-month-old baby boy was also rescued at the same hospital after accidently swallowing a 1.5mm dry battery. "None of the family members was aware that the baby was playing with such life-threatening items."
They did not even know that the boy had swallowed a dry battery, he added. "it was only, five hours later that they noticed that the boy was not fine, had fever, and was crying all the time, they took him to the hospital where they were shocked when told about a small battery stuck inside his esophagus."
ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com

• Ras Al Khaimah