Corn Lodged In Lung Causes Death

Northern Advocate, 7 October 1941, Page 7

Corn Lodged In Lung Causes Death

Pieces of a grain of Indian corn lodged deep m the lung caused the death of a 14 months’ old infant, the son of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Dodds, of Kawakawa. At thh inquest, held at Kawakawa, the assistant medical superintendent of the Whangarei District Hospital (Dr. W. R. McKechnie), who performed a bronchoscopy operation, said that within a few minutes of the child being admitted, the foreign body had been located and broken up. However, the child had died soon after from heart failure, owing to suffocation. Dr. McKechnie expressed the opinion that had a bronchoscope been available at the Kawakawa Hospital, and had it been used immediately in on endeavour to remove the obstruction, it was reasonable to suggest that the child might have been saved. Firmly Embedded The superintendent of the Bay of Islands Hospital (Dr. Frengley) expressed the opinion that immediate use of a bronchoscope when the child was first admitted would have made no difference in the circumstances. Even in the post-mortem the pieces of grain, being firmly embedded in the lung, were difficult to remove. Bronchoscopy was a specialised technique and it was fortunate that Dr. McKechnie had considerable experience in the use of the instrument. There was no bronchoscope at Kawakawa hospital and if there were he could not use the instrument. When the child was first admitted he was of the opinion that the most likely cause of the difficulty in breathing was whooping cough, and, prior to being called away, he had warned Dr. Gilbert to be handy to see what type of attack developed—whether from whooping cough or a foreign body in the lung. Earlier Collapse The history of the case, said Dr. H. H. Gilbert, was that for two days before being brought to hospital the child had recurring attacks of evanosis, coughing and collapse. A provisional diagnosis suggested the presence of either an inhaled foreign body or whooping cough. Shortly after noon on the day of admission the child had a further violent attack of coughing and collapsed. On examination, the child was apparently asphyxiated and no signs of life could be found. Artificial respiration was instituted with forced oxygen and a tracheotomy operation performed at once. Stimulants were given and after several minutes the child gasped and slowlyrecovered. The child was taken to Whangarei Hospital, but, after removal of pieces cf a foreign body, apparently from a maize cob, from his lung his condition deteriorated rapidly before the operation was completed. Despite artificial respiration and stimulants, including adrenaline injected directly into the heart, the child sank and died. After evidence had been given by the parents, the District Coroner (Mr. T. J. V. Dunlop) returned a verdict in accordance with the medical testij mony.