Kol docs remove seed lodged in Andamans woman’s airway
Times of India | 29 August 2026
Kolkata: What began with eating a jamun turned into a potentially life-threatening emergency for a visually impaired woman in her 70s from the Andaman & Nicobar. She choked while eating the fruit and was rushed by her family to a local health centre, where she was stabilised with oxygen, nebulisation and supportive care. An X-ray at a larger medical centre revealed that the seed had entered her windpipe and become lodged in the left main bronchus, causing a serious airway obstruction.
Her family said two attempts to remove the foreign body through rigid bronchoscopy at two health facilities failed, prompting them to fly her to Kolkata. At HP Ghosh Hospital, a team led by pulmonologist Ansuman Mukhopadhyay, along with doctors Sanghabrata Sur, Ritam Chakrabarty, Prajjwal Sarkar and Anirban Bhattacharya, successfully removed it through a complex bronchoscopic procedure.
The 90-minute procedure involved specialised instruments to fragment the seed, which was firmly lodged and difficult to remove intact. Doctors then carefully retrieved each fragment. The procedure required close coordination between the bronchoscopy and anaesthesia teams.
After all fragments were removed, the patient was extubated and breathed spontaneously. She remained under close observation for two days before being discharged and sent home recently.