By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: In a first in the State’s medical history, a medical team of Super Care Hospital led by Dr RS Thangkhiew successfully extracted a round alkaline battery (having corrosion poison) of a radio remote from the esophagus of a three-year-old child.
Terming it a common yet rare case, Dr Thangkhiew said, “We have received many cases where coins and bones were extracted, but this is a special case, first ever reported in the medical journal, where a child swallowed an alkaline battery having corrosive poison.” Mentioning that the battery was extracted through endoscopy, Dr Thangkhiew said the battery has alkaline properties and could have been very dangerous since the acid would have leaked in due course and burnt the surface areas round it within 24 hours causing corrosive poisoning.
Stating that the acid from the battery had already started leaked when the child was referred to Super Care Hospital Dr Thangkhiew said, “We have already extracted the poison from his body but there are chances that ulceration and corrosion might occur,” adding that the child needs to be monitored regularly.
Informing that the child was stable and would be discharged soon, the doctor cautioned that if the corrosive poisoning goes untreated it may result in ulcer, decrease in the swallowing area and finally resulting in inability to swallow which will require a major surgery.
The three-year old boy, Pynshngainlang Muktieh, who hails from the remote village of Khlieh Umwang in Ri-Bhoi district, was playing with the battery on Thursday when he accidently swallowed it. He was first taken to NEIGRIHMS on Thursday night for check up after he complained of poking sensation in his esophagus.
“We panicked when we learnt that he had swallowed something hard and we immediate took him to NEIGRIHMS on the same night and when we reached there we found that he had swallowed the battery,” the child’s father, Kitbok Kharshandi, said.
The doctors at NEIGRIHMS had, however, expressed their inability to remove the battery from the child’s esophagus citing lack of equipments and referred him to Super Care Hospital.
“We had lost hope when the doctors at NEIGRIHMS expressed their inability to extract it, but now I am happy and thankful to the Almighty and the doctors,” Kharshandi said in a tone of relief.