Docs conduct complicated surgery to extract live leech

Siliguri: A Team of ENT doctors from North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) performed a completed surgery to remove a live leech from the larynx of a woman.

“It was a complicated procedure. The leech was in the larynx (inlet of respiratory passage) and it was moving continuously. Keeping in mind the possibility of migration of the leech to the lungs resulting in profound bleeding, an emergency tracheostomy was performed to protect the lower airway tract, thus preventing subsequent complications. We successfully removed the live leech. The patient is now out of danger,” said Dr. Radheshyam Mahato, head

of the ENT department who led the surgery.

On Friday afternoon, A 40-year-old female patient from Gorubathan was admitted to our ENT ward of NBMCH with a history of difficulty in swallowing and coughing for the last three days. She had a history of drinking water from a waterfall 15 days back near her village in Gorubathan. After admission, doctors did a Fibre-optic laryngoscopy which revealed a live leech in the larynx and it was continuously moving.

The patient was having severe discomfort. The leech was found to be alive and attached firmly to the larynx.

Thereafter, the surgery was done by using tracheostomy which is a procedure to help air and oxygen reach the lungs by creating an opening into the trachea (windpipe) from outside the neck.

The patient and her family members expressed their gratitude towards the ENT team.