Kolkata Doctor Removes Nose Pin Screw From Woman’s Lung: “Extremely Rare Case

A team of doctors in Kolkata successfully removed a screw from a woman’s right lung after she accidentally inhaled it. She had initially believed the screw had passed into her stomach and would naturally pass through her digestive system.

She visited a doctor a month later due to a persistent cough and pneumonia, for which she was initially prescribed medication that proved ineffective. A pulmonologist conducted a CT scan and chest X-ray, revealing the foreign object lodged in her lung.

The woman was surprised to learn that the screw had come loose while she was chatting and had been inadvertently inhaled. Dr. Debraj Jash, the pulmonologist at Medica Superspecialty Hospital to whom the woman was referred, indicated that they might have had to resort to invasive surgery if a second attempt at bronchoscopy failed.

He noted that such cases typically involved young children or elderly individuals, making this case with a woman in her 30s exceptional. Dr. Jash explained the difficulty of removing a sharp object from the lung and the potential risks involved in the extraction process.

The successful second bronchoscopy removed the screw, which Dr. Jash described as an “extremely rare case.” The patient recovered and was discharged from the hospital four days after the operation.