Bhubaneswar: In a remarkable display of medical expertise, a team of doctors at the MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur has successfully removed an eight-centimetre-long broken piece of a knife from the lung of a 24-year-old man. The fragment had been lodged in Santosh Das’s body for three years.
The story begins in Bangalore, where Santosh, a labourer from Kabisurya Nagar in Ganjam district, was attacked by a miscreant and stabbed on the left side of his neck. Miraculously, he survived the assault, but the knife fragment had broken off and migrated to his right lung, unbeknownst to him.
For years, Santosh lived with the object in his body, unaware of its presence. He developed a persistent dry cough, which led to a misdiagnosis of tuberculosis. Despite undergoing a nine-month course of treatment, his condition didn’t improve. It wasn’t until he began coughing up blood that his family rushed him to MKCG Hospital.
A team of doctors, led by Associate Professor Sarada Prasanna Sahoo, sprang into action. After conducting an X-ray, CT scan, and bronchoscopy, they discovered the shocking truth that the knife fragment had been lodged in Santosh’s right lung for three years.
The surgical team, under the expert guidance of Dr Sahoo, performed a right thoracotomy operation to remove the sharp metallic object. The procedure was a success, and Santosh is now on the road to recovery.
