The man choked to death by eating fish, why?
A middle-aged man in Hangzhou, Mr. Zhang, was caught in the throat by a fishbone while eating fish at home, and slept until midnight due to severe suffocation due to edema in the throat. Although he was rescued for many days, he eventually died. In life, fishbone stuck in the throat happens from time to time. Why is the fishbone that Mr. Zhang encountered so dangerous?
Mr. Zhang, in his 40s, was in his prime. That day, the family of three had dinner, and his wife cooked Mr. Zhang's favorite braised crucian carp. Mr. Zhang was chatting with his wife and children while eating, but he was careless. The fish meat and fish thorns were swallowed, and his throat immediately stung.
Mr. Zhang hurriedly opened his mouth and asked his wife to help him take a look. His wife picked up a chopstick and fiddled it carefully at Mr. Zhang's throat, trying to get the fish bone off. The throat still hurt, but Mr. Zhang didn't care much and thought the fish bone had fallen. The family continued to eat and chat. At 11 o'clock at night, the family of three went to bed.
Early morning breathing difficulties were sent to the hospital
At 1 am, the wife woke up from her sleep and vaguely felt that the husband next to her was breathing heavily. When she turned on the light and looked at it, she was terrified. The husband's face turned purple, clutching his chest, panting heavily, and it was difficult to breathe. The wife quickly called her son over and sent her husband to Hangzhou Xixi Hospital, which was the closest to her home.
Zhang Siquan, the deputy chief physician of the intensive care unit of Xixi Hospital, was on duty. When he saw Mr. Zhang's situation, he urgently called for medical treatment. "We opened Mr. Zhang's mouth and found that his throat was severely edema, his glottis was closed, and he was unable to breathe.
Director Zhang said that the fish bone stuck in Mr. Zhang's throat was about 1 centimeter long. Due to the severe swelling of the throat, the fish bone could not be removed for a while. The top priority was to intubate the trachea to allow Mr. Zhang to breathe smoothly.
"The throat was so swollen that it was difficult to insert the intubation. After everyone's efforts, the intubation was finally successful. After more than an hour of continuous rescue, his heartbeat was also pushed back. But unfortunately, due to the severe suffocation, Mr. Zhang has been in a state of brain death. It is too regrettable." Director Zhang said regretfully that Mr. Zhang died after three days of observation in the ICU. Until his death, the fish bone could not be pulled out.
Why is the little fish bone so dangerous?
Anyone who loves to eat fish may have experienced a fishbone stuck in their throat, but few people would associate it with death. So, why is a thin fishbone lethal?
Zhu Liming, director of the Department of Gastroenterology of Wenzhou Central Hospital in Zhejiang Province, said that the length of the esophagus in adults is 25 to 30 centimeters, and there are three narrow places in the esophagus. The most common fishbone stuck in the throat is located at the first narrow place with the narrowest diameter of the esophagus, which is the beginning of the esophagus. When swallowing, there will be pain near the esophagus, causing difficulty in swallowing. In this case, everyone is used to pushing it down with a large mouthful of rice. If the fishbone goes down in an vertical position, it may enter the stomach. But the downward position of the fishbone is not fixed, and it is easy to get stuck in the second narrow place.
"The first and second stenosis are 4 to 7 centimeters apart, but getting stuck in the second stenosis is dangerous." Zhu Liming said that the blood vessel closest to the heart, with the thickest inner diameter and the highest pressure in the human body is the aorta (arch), which is close to the second stenosis of the esophagus. The fish stab penetrates the wall of the esophagus and penetrates the aorta. The early manifestation is esophageal pain. After a few days, the wound inflammation increases, and eventually the aorta ruptures. "The aorta ruptures, and the consequences are unimaginable."
Swallowing is the most important thing; vomiting is the correct solution
Li Yong, director of the Department of Otolaryngology of a hospital in Hangzhou, said that after being stuck with a fishbone, many people like to use local methods for first aid, such as drinking vinegar, swallowing rice balls, swallowing steamed buns, swallowing vegetables, and drinking a lot of water. They all want to use the action of "swallowing" to force the fishbone down. In fact, the action of "swallowing" is the most unacceptable!
Swallowing the fish bone may cause the fish bone to penetrate deeper, and at the same time, it will damage the throat and cause infection, purulent, inflammation, redness and swelling. Drinking vinegar cannot soften the fish bone or fish bone. Some vinegar concentrations are too high, and it will burn the mucosa of the mouth, throat and esophagus, resulting in narrow adhesion of the esophagus. After getting stuck in the fish bone, stop all swallowing and eating, do not even drink water, and relax the throat.
Director Li Yong suggests that you can pick your throat with your fingers to create a feeling of nausea and vomiting, and let the fishbone spit out. The premise here is that you are sure that you are swallowing a small soft fishbone. This superficial foreign body in the throat can sometimes be excreted through saliva and vomit.
