Doctors remove a bullet lodged in a man’s AIRWAY after he inhaled it when he was shot in the cheek

March 18, 2019  19:43

Incredible footage has captured the moment doctors removed a bullet lodged in a man's airway.

The unidentified 45-year-old inhaled the bullet after passing out when he was shot in the cheek, doctors said.

Medics who treated the patient, who lives in India, released scans showing the bullet lodged in the pipe that passes air to the lungs.

The patient went to a hospital in Medanta - on the outskirts of New Delhi - after being shot. It is unclear why he was attacked.

He had three bullet holes in his body, with one in his stomach and another in his elbow, as well as the ‘big wound’ in his jaw.

Doctors at The Medicity Gurgaon were able to find the bullet in two of the wounds – but not the jaw, they revealed in a case report.

The team found he had inhaled a bullet which then became stuck in his tracheobronchial tree, where the lungs connect to the windpipe.

The team of medics were able to remove the bullet in two parts. The first used forceps to remove the outer shell.

For the second part, surgeons led by Dr Ashish Prakash used a tool often used to remove bile duct stones to remove the inner part of the bullet.

The usual procedure – a right bronchoscopy – was too hard because of the ‘extensive’ facial trauma.

The man survived and was left with no lasting disability, according to the tale published in the journal Respiratory Medicine Case Reports.

Writing in the report, Dr Prakash and colleagues said: ‘It is assumed that the bullet first hit the left cheek and lost its momentum.

And they added: ‘The patient lost consciousness and had a fall leading to inhalation of [the] bullet in the airway.’

Source: The Daily Mail

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