Doctors remove Injection needle That remained in body of a neonate for 20 days

In a bizarre case, Bombay doctors remove Injection needle That remained in the body of a neonate for 20 days.

A 3 days old, baby boy from Chembur was taken to Panvel nursing home for vaccination. After 19 days, it was noticed the baby was having fever & swelling in the right thigh. Hence, they approached local pediatrician who suggested Investigation (x rays and ultrasound) which concluded osteomyelitis of the right hip joint for which they admitted baby at Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital, Parel. While the baby was started on treatment for osteomyelitis, to the surprise of the doctors, they found a foreign body in the left buttock region on the x-ray. It was first considered as an artefact, but the foreign body shadow persisted on subsequent x rays, hence CT scan was done to rule out. It was then concluded that the foreign body was a needle that used to give during vaccinations.

The parents of the baby had no clue how the needle had come there in the first place. Doctors from Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital did surgery and removed the Needle from the left hip joint.

Dr. Pradnya Bendre, Pediatric Surgeon Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital, Parel “We treated the baby with infection of bone called osteomyelitis. But later a CT scan which was taken revealed the presence of the needle in the left buttock. When we asked the parents, they said the baby had received intramuscular vaccine injections on Day 3 of life at a local nursing home somewhere in Panvel.

Dr. Bendre added “From 19 days broken vaccine needle was inside the body. A boy was lucky that it has not harmed him or maybe a boy could not express his pain. After discussing with Parent, it was decided to remove the needle. The baby was taken up for Intra-operative surgery for removal of foreign body. It was difficult to find the exact location; hence multiple x rays were done to find the position of the needle. It took 2 hours to remove the needle under C-arm guidance localizations. The 2 cm needle was found embedded in the capsule of the left hip joint and the baby has recovered uneventfully without any complications”.

Baby’s Father said, “We thank Wadia Hospital’s Team as they saved my son’s life, their diagnosis was accurate and immediate actions makes them the best from the rest “