Doctors remove live 12cm leech from 8-year-old boy's airway in Quang Ngai

Doctors at Quang Ngai Provincial Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynecology successfully removed a live 12cm leech from the airway of an 8-year-old boy.

The child was brought to the hospital on June 15 with hoarseness, severe coughing, and difficulty breathing. Doctors discovered an unusual foreign object deep within his respiratory tract. Following an urgent consultation, the boy was taken to the operating room for bronchoscopy to remove the object.

During the procedure, the medical team found a live leech at the carina, the point where the trachea divides into the left and right bronchi. Endoscopic images showed the leech wriggling and moving within the boy's airway. Using specialized instruments, doctors quickly extracted the leech.

Dr. Huynh Duy Tham, head of the Pediatric Respiratory Department, described the case as particularly dangerous. He stated that without timely intervention, the leech could have continued to feed on blood, grow larger, block the airway, cause severe respiratory failure, and even threaten the child's life.

The boy's family reported he had recently bathed in and drunk water from a stream. Doctors believe this is the likely cause of the leech entering his respiratory system. The hospital advises parents to seek immediate medical care for children exhibiting persistent symptoms like chronic coughing, hoarseness, shortness of breath, coughing up blood, or a feeling of obstruction in the throat after swimming or drinking from natural water sources.

“

This is a particularly dangerous case. If not detected and treated promptly, the leech could continue to suck blood, grow in size, cause airway obstruction, lead to severe respiratory failure, and even threaten the child's life.