Vietnamese toddler recovers after fishbone removed from lung

A three‑year‑old boy from Khánh Hòa was admitted to the Respiratory Department of Children’s Hospital No. 1 in Ho Chi Minh City after a cough lasting more than a month failed to improve with antibiotics. Initial chest X‑rays showed persistent left‑lung infiltrates, prompting doctors to suspect a retained airway foreign body.

High‑resolution CT imaging confirmed a sharp eel‑bone fragment lodged deep in the left lower‑lobe bronchus, causing partial obstruction and chronic inflammation. A multidisciplinary team performed flexible bronchoscopy, successfully extracting the bone and averting the need for open‑chest surgery. Physicians highlighted the risk of prolonged foreign‑body retention, which can lead to severe complications such as bleeding, airway narrowing, or irreversible lung damage, and advised parents to keep small, hard objects like fishbones away from young children.