Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneshwar successfully retrieved a live fish lodged in a Patient’s throat

Little did Ashok Panda, a fisherman, know that the fish he had gone to catch will directly jump to his mouth and get stuck in his throat. Panda, a resident of Podadiha village of Balasore district, was first admitted to a local hospital where the Doctors failed to bring out the fish and shifted him to SCB Medical College and Hospital and later to Apollo Hospital. Giving a new lease of life to Panda, the doctors finally pulled out the fish from his throat.

The fish was identified as Climbing Perch or ‘Kou’ and was alive when completely taken out from the man’s throat. A team of doctors from Apollo Hospitals successfully removed the fish with the help of a mouth gag. Dr. Sanjeev Gupta, Senior consultant of ENT Department and Dr. Suryakant Pradhan, Junior Consultant were behind the successful treatment.

Dr Pradhan said “The patient came to us on April 23 after conducting an X-ray at SCB Medical in Cuttack. As he was choking and in excruciating pain, we took him to the emergency operation theatre where he was administered local anaesthesia in the sitting position. Mouth gag was applied and the fish was caught with forceps. The patient’s condition is good and is talking normally. He has been discharged from the hospital”.

Describing his ordeal, Panda said “I was cleaning our pond and at that time I was holding a fish which suddenly jumped into my mouth and got stuck in my throat. After doctors at SCB Medical said they couldn’t give guarantee, I came to Apollo where the fish was successfully pulled out.”