Delhi: Medics remove bullet stuck close to heart of Kanpur man for 16 years

By Shalini Bhardwaj
New Delhi [India], September 18 : Doctors at a Private hospital in Delhi have saved a middle aged man's life by extracting a bullet that had been lodged in his left lung for 16 years.
Shailender Singh sustained a gunshot wound in 2008 and was surviving with the bullet lodged perilously close to his heart. It had started to cause life-threatening complications for the 45-year-old man.
A resident of Kanpur he was admitted to the hospital in the national capital after experiencing chest pain and coughing of blood. He revealed that he was shot in the chest in 2008, and the bullet got stuck in his left lung, very close to the heart.
Over the years, he consulted many specialists in Kanpur, but due to the dangerous location of the bullet near vital structures, including his heart and lungs, doctors advised against surgery. He received non-surgical treatment and remained free of symptoms for years.
However, symptoms worsened over time with severe chest pain and coughing up blood.
A team of doctors led by Dr Shaiwal Khandelwal, Associate Director, Thoraci Surgery, Max Hospital , Saket examined the patient and removed the bullet as well as the damaged lung.
Elaborating on case details, Dr Shaiwal Khandelwal said, "The patient remained asymptomatic until last year when he developed left-side chest pain and started to cough out blood (hemoptysis). The quantity and frequency of blood in his cough progressively increased. He then came to the hospital and his CT scan suggested a bullet in the left lung hilum with collapse consolidation of the lung. He was advised surgery, however, the patient went to his hometown to seek a second opinion. Soon, he started to cough out massive amount of blood and he gave us a distress call and got admitted at the hospital.
"His bronchoscopy revealed a bullet pressing upon the airway with active bleeding from the left upper lobe of the lung. An emergency surgery was performed to take out the bullet and the damaged part of the lung. His condition improved significantly after the surgery.," Dr Khandelwal added.
Dr. Khandelwal pointed out that bullets which get placed at dangerous locations in the body and show no symptoms are usually left untreated. Sometimes, these bullet wounds may cause foreign body reactions and may invade the vital structures as has happened with this patient.
"It is extremely rare to see a lodged bullet causing life-threatening bleeding. In order to save the patient's life , emergency surgery was done and the whole lung was removed. In this case, we removed only the cause of bleeding and the already damaged lung," he added.
The patient has been discharged and is recovering well at home.