Man almost lost his life because of a 6cm beef tendon stuck in his esophagus

On June 13, Dr. Truong Minh Hieu, Head of the Endoscopy Department - Xuyen A Long An General Hospital, said that the hospital had just treated a 59-year-old male patient who choked on a beef tendon while eating breakfast. According to the family, the man was in a hurry to eat breakfast and swallowed a piece of beef tendon, then felt pain in the epigastric region and vomited, unable to eat or drink anything.

At around 5pm the same day, his condition did not improve, so his family took him to the Emergency Department - Xuyen A Long An General Hospital. Doctors performed an endoscopy and discovered a tough food mass about 6cm in size stuck in the middle third of the esophagus. After that, the doctors used the endoscope to push the food mass down into the stomach, and no scratches were found. The patient's health was stable after the intervention.

Người đàn ông suýt mất mạng vì cục gân bò 6 cm mắc trong thực quản - Ảnh 1.

A large piece of beef tendon was stuck in a man's esophagus. Photo: BVCC

Doctor Hieu said that although beef tendons are not sharp objects that can perforate the esophagus like other foreign objects, when they get stuck in the esophagus, they will cause infection very quickly. There is a risk of inflammation of the cervical esophagus, compression of important organs located nearby such as the trachea - bronchi, large blood vessels, causing the patient to have difficulty breathing, body temperature disorders, heart rhythm disorders, blood pressure...

The most dangerous thing is when the abscess is too large, it will cause the esophagus to rupture, causing pus and air to flow into the mediastinum. The infection spreads throughout the mediastinum and if not detected promptly, it can cause death due to septic shock.

"People need to be careful when eating and drinking, chew thoroughly and swallow slowly. If you accidentally choke or inhale, you should quickly go to the hospital for treatment. You should not try folk remedies because delaying the process can lead to bad developments, even endangering your life," Dr. Hieu advised.

Ng.Thuan

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