Needle recovered from infant 19 days after vaccination

Mumbai: A two cm long vaccine needle accidentally left inside the body of a 22-day-old boy was removed at Wadia Hospital in Parel, on Thursday. The infant, Aastha Sudhakar Pashte, whose parents reside in Chembur had taken him to a private nursing home in Panvel for vaccination.

After few days, the parents noticed that the baby had fever and swelling in his left thigh, subsequently they approached a paediatrician in Chembur who advised them to take x-ray and ultrasound tests, which revealed the presence of the foreign object (needle) in the buttock. A CT scan was further done to confirm the finding.

Dr Pradnya Bendre, pediatric surgeon at Wadia hospital said, “Initially we treated the baby for infection of bone called Osteomyelitis. From 19 days the broken vaccine needle was inside his body. The parents claimed that the baby had received intramuscular vaccine injections at a local nursing home in Panvel.”

“The baby was taken up for intraoperative surgery for removal of foreign body. It took two hours to remove the needle under C-arm guidance localisations. The two cm needle was found embedded in the capsule of the left hip joint and the baby has recovered uneventfully without any complications,” she added.

Astha’s father, Sudhakar Pashte, said, “We took our baby for vaccination at Panvel, but were unaware why he used to cry and feel feverish despite of all treatments. Subsequently, we rushed to a hospital and CT scan and X-ray revealed the presence of needle.” 

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