Two Infants Face Life-Threatening Emergencies After Inhaling Food
An ordinary winter day in Faridabad turned into a desperate race against time for two families. Their infants accidentally inhaled food particles that silently blocked their tiny lungs. Both children teetered on the brink of fatal respiratory failure.
Doctors at Amrita Hospital in Faridabad received two critical cases within hours. One baby was just one year old. The other was only eight months. Medical professionals emphasized that even a short delay could have ended both stories tragically.
The First Case: A Peanut Blocked an Entire Lung
The one-year-old child had struggled with breathing issues for nearly a week. His parents noticed persistent cough and breathing difficulty. They sought treatment at another hospital initially, but his condition kept worsening.
When the infant finally reached Amrita Hospital, his oxygen levels had dropped dangerously low. He struggled to breathe. Doctors stabilized him overnight in the pediatric intensive care unit.
The next morning, they performed an emergency bronchoscopy. What they discovered shocked the medical team. A peanut had completely blocked the child's right main airway. This blockage cut off air supply to his entire lung.
"Peanuts and similar food items swell when they enter the airway and come in contact with moisture," explained Dr. Sourabh Pahuja, Senior Consultant in Pulmonary Medicine. "In this case, the lung was not receiving air at all. If removal had been delayed further, the child could have developed lung collapse, severe infection, or life-threatening oxygen failure."
Doctors removed the peanut just in time. Within hours, the child's oxygen levels improved dramatically. He went home the very next day.
"We kept thinking it was just a stubborn cough," said the child's father. "We had no idea something was stuck inside his lung. The doctors saved our child's life."
The Second Case: Oxygen Levels Plunged to Critical Low
Just hours later, the hospital faced an even more frightening emergency. An eight-month-old baby arrived with oxygen saturation at just 40 percent. Doctors describe this level as critically life-threatening.
Medical records showed the baby had been ill for nearly ten days. He received treatment elsewhere before coming to Amrita Hospital. Scans revealed a foreign object lodged deep inside his left lung.
"There was no time to wait," Dr. Pahuja stated. "The baby was not maintaining oxygen levels. Even minutes mattered."
The infant went straight to the operating theatre. The procedure proved extremely challenging due to the tiny size of the baby's airway and his dangerously low oxygen reserve.
When standard instruments failed, the medical team deployed advanced freezing technology called cryotherapy. This technique allowed them to safely attach to and extract the organic foreign body.
"The object was removed within minutes," Dr. Pahuja reported. "But because it had remained inside the airway for many days, it had already caused swelling and damage."
The baby required two to three days of intensive monitoring before his breathing stabilized. He was discharged later.
"We were told our baby might not survive the night," said the child's mother. "Hearing him breathe normally again felt like a miracle."
Doctors Highlight the Complexity of Pediatric Airway Emergencies
Medical professionals emphasized that both successful rescues resulted from highly coordinated, multi-disciplinary responses. Specialists trained to manage pediatric airway emergencies worked together seamlessly.
"Managing foreign body aspiration in infants is among the most complex emergencies we face," said Dr. Maninder Singh Dhaliwal, Principal Consultant in PICU and Pediatric Respiratory Medicine. "These children arrive with minimal oxygen reserve. Every step, from anesthesia to airway access, must be precise. There is absolutely no margin for error."
A Serious Warning for All Parents
Doctors say such cases occur more frequently than most parents realize. They often turn fatal because warning signs get missed or treatment gets delayed.
"A sudden coughing fit during feeding is not something to ignore," Dr. Pahuja warned. "If coughing, wheezing, or breathing difficulty continues beyond a day, parents must seek immediate medical evaluation. Food may have entered the airway instead of the food pipe."
Medical professionals also stressed that not all hospitals can handle such emergencies effectively.
"Foreign body removal from infant airways requires specialized skills, pediatric anesthesia support, and advanced equipment," Dr. Pahuja explained. "Losing precious time at under-equipped centers can cost a child's life."
Essential Safety Advice for Parents
Doctors strongly advise parents to follow these critical safety measures:
- Never give infants small, hard foods like peanuts or cashews
- Always supervise children during meals
- Keep small objects out of children's reach
Both infants in these cases came from Faridabad. Doctors say timely intervention saved their lives, but the outcome could easily have been very different.
"This is a preventable tragedy," doctors stressed. "Because when a child cannot breathe, there is no second chance."
