Magnet gets stuck in child’s lung in Kolkata:Doctors remove it using another magnet; make incision in neck to help him breathe

Doctors at Kolkata Medical College and Hospital saved the life of a six-year-old boy by removing a magnet lodged in his lung. Remarkably, the magnet was removed not with an expensive machine, but using a special magnet made at a local workshop in Maniktala. The boy, Arafat Ali, is a resident of Baduria in North 24 Parganas. His mother brought him to the hospital on Tuesday after he developed a persistent cough and breathing difficulties. The magnet had travelled through his windpipe into the right bronchus. A CT scan and X-ray revealed that a small, amulet-shaped magnet used in toys was lodged in his lung. This posed a serious threat to his life. 12 attempts to remove the magnet failed The doctors admitted the child to the ENT department and first stabilised his condition. They then attempted to remove the magnet through bronchoscopy on Wednesday. Associate Professor Dr Diptanshu Mukhopadhyay tried four times to remove the magnet using forceps. Each attempt failed. Dr Mukhopadhyay said, “The forceps were unable to grip the magnet properly. It slipped away each time as soon as we pulled it towards the vocal cords.” The doctors performed a tracheostomy (creating an opening in the throat to establish an airway) to keep the child’s breathing normal. However, this did not help. Doctors then considered a thoracotomy, a procedure in which the chest is opened for surgery. SSKM Hospital was contacted for assistance, but no paediatric ICU bed was available there by Thursday morning. Special magnet made at a local workshop After conventional methods failed, the doctors considered using another magnet to remove the one lodged inside the child. Dr Mukhopadhyay reached a lathe workshop in Maniktala, central Kolkata, on Thursday morning. There, he showed the child’s X-rays to an employee, Prabhakar Karar, and explained the problem. Karar, a resident of Shyampur in Howrah, said after examining the X-rays that the lodged magnet was relatively weak. He said it was like the magnets used in toys. Karar offered to make a strong magnet of a special shape that could be attached to the tip of surgical forceps. Karar said, “I was asked to make a powerful magnet of a specific size. It had to be attached to forceps and taken to the trapped magnet. I made it according to the size specified by the doctors. I am happy that the item I made helped save the child’s life.” Magnet had been lodged for three days A team of six doctors led by Professor Bandyopadhyay carried out the procedure. The specially made magnet pulled the trapped magnet towards it. It had been lodged in the child’s lungs for three days. The doctors removed the magnet through the tracheostomy opening. During the procedure, care was taken to ensure that the object did not slip further down the windpipe. The child was shifted to the ICU for further treatment. Air is now reaching both lungs, and the child is recovering in the ICU. ​