Plastic Found In Lungs Of Patient With 16-Year Cough

Story ByJohn FengSub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyAsia Wire Report

These pictures show the plastic found inside the windpipe of a man who suffered from coughing and lung infections for 16 years after he swallowed the packaging as a child.

Ji Yuanbo, 24, had failed to find an effective remedy for his recurring pneumonia since the age of eight. 

As his condition worsened over the years, he finally sought out doctors at the Second People’s Hospital of Huai’an City, which is in East China’s Jiangsu Province.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire

His doctor, Wan Yufeng, explained: “The patient had been suffering from chronic pneumonia for 16 years since he was eight years old.

“He used to be treated at his local community hospital, but this time he came to us.

“I ordered CT scans and they showed a shadow in his lung, but I thought it was due to his pneumonia.

“I decided to do a tracheoscopy anyway and found a foreign body in his windpipe.”

Ji was taken into surgery and medics extracted a plastic of plastic wrapping, which was part of a battery’s packaging.

The patient finally recalled and revealed that he had accidentally inhaled the plastic into his windpipe while chewing on it as a young boy.

However, he never mentioned it to his parents and his family never found out until his treatment earlier this month.

Doctor Wan said Ji has since been discharged from hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.