7-year-old boy d:ies from ballpoint pen cap stuck in throat

Doctor Nguyen Tan Hung – Deputy Head of the Department of Emergency and Anti-Poison (National Children’s Hospital) said:
“The child was admitted to the hospital in a very critical condition. He was given a balloon through the endotracheal tube, and is being continuously maintained with cardiac support drugs to ensure heart rate and blood pressure, deep coma, and continuous convulsions”.

The child was actively treated by doctors with measures such as mechanical ventilation, circulatory volume replacement, vasomotor maintenance, anti-cerebral edema treatment, and sedation at the emergency and intensive care units. Along with that, the child underwent emergency endoscopy at the bedside to remove the foreign body from the airway.

“The foreign body removed was a black ballpoint pen tip, about 0.5 x 0.8 cm in size, covering 70% of the right main bronchus. The child’s airway mucosa on both sides was edematous, with a lot of mucus in the bronchi”, shared Master, Doctor Vu Tung Lam – Department of Respiratory Examination and Exploration – Respiratory Center (National Children’s Hospital).

Despite the doctors’ efforts to treat the patient, due to the prolonged cardiac and respiratory arrest and irreversible brain damage, the patient di:ed after 4 days of treatment.