Unique surgery saves retired Army officer after he chokes on his mutton Kebab

New Delhi: In what could be termed as an incident of turning a 'delicious meal' into a disastrous moment, a former Army officer almost lost his life after a piece of mutton seekh kebab blocked his windpipe.

As per a report in TOI, the 69-year-old had nearly choked to death on the kebab that he was having at his Gurgaon home on Tuesday.

Major Rajinder (retired) had to undergo a rare procedure, which doctors described as a 'one of a kind' surgery to remove the kebab.

The report added that doctors, by using anabdominal laparoscopic grasper - a tool used in gall bladder removal surgeries - were able to remove the six-inch kebab piece from the windpipe (trachea) after the conventional method failed.

According to Dr Shashidhar Tatavarthy, senior ENT consultant (surgery), Artemis Hospitals, the patient was unable to speak and barely breathed when he was wheeled into emergency as passage of air to the lungs was completely blocked.

Upon arrival at the hopsital's emergency room, immediately surgeons began a tracheostomy - a life-saving procedure in which a tube is inserted into your windpipe to open the restricted airway and enable breathing. However, doctors said the procedure proved inadequate, as kebab was large enough to also obstruct the artificial passage, posing huge challenge for the surgeons and anaesthetists.

By using an out-of-the-box technique, and an abdominal laparoscopic grasper, doctors successfully removed the seekh kebab from the windpipe.

In Rajinder case, the hospital said even ENT instruments were of limited use because of the critical nature of the blockage.

While smaller foreign bodies could sometimes be removed by exerting pressure on the patient's chest, there was no other option in Rajinder's case. The only option to remove the kebab was through endoscopically, Dr Tatavarthy added.

Doctors said the patient, who has been under long-term treatment for an unrelated medical condition, is now out of danger now will be discharged soon.