Baby's Coughing Fit Reveals Swallowed Pebble Lodged in Lung

A 10-month-old infant, identified only as "Seni" (a pseudonym), was brought to Shaare Zedek Medical Center after suffering from a week-long cough and shortness of breath. Doctors initially struggled to diagnose the cause, partly due to the baby's complex medical history, which included prior chest surgery that had caused some airway pressure.

Despite the low initial suspicion of a foreign object due to the baby not yet crawling, doctors decided to investigate further when standard treatments like steroids and inhalations proved ineffective. A bronchoscopy, a minimally invasive procedure, was performed.

During the procedure, doctors discovered a small pebble lodged in the infant's airway, precisely between two blood vessels. Dr. Leon Joseph, a senior physician in the pediatric pulmonology institute at Shaare Zedek, stated that the pebble was in a highly sensitive location and could have caused bleeding and irreversible damage if left untreated.

Using specialized equipment and a tiny basket, the medical team successfully removed the pebble. Professor Pierre Attal, head of pediatric ENT at Shaare Zedek, noted that the minimally invasive technique avoided a more traumatic procedure. The baby's condition improved almost immediately after the pebble's removal, and she was discharged home within hours.

Doctors emphasized that this case serves as a critical reminder of the dangers of foreign object aspiration, even in very young infants, and urged parents to maintain constant supervision and remove small objects from a baby's environment. They also advised cutting certain foods like grapes and cherry tomatoes lengthwise and crosswise for young children.