Wire removed from man's food pipe

For Debasis Bhattacharya from Kolkata, eating a piece of cake turned out to be a nightmare.

Ten days ago, when Bhattacharya ate a cake slice, he felt something stuck in his throat and was experiencing pain while eating food. An X-ray revealed the presence of a foreign object in his food pipe. It was stuck between vital structures in the neck – the spine behind, carotid artery on the side, with the food pipe in front.

“X-ray and CT scans revealed that the wire would move every time Debasis swallowed. The sharp wire had cut a hole through the food pipe,” said Dr Santosh Shivaswamy, consultant-ENT, head and neck surgeon, Columbia Asia Hospital, Hebbal. The wire was removed after surgery.

 The patient explained that he had a habit of eating food fast. “I generally would not pay much time chewing my food and would directly swallow it instead. I never thought this could lead to such complications,” said Bhattacharya.
DH News Service