A medical team at Aster Hospital in Sharjah has successfully removed a nearly 2cm fish bone that had been lodged in a 60-year-old man's airway for almost two months. The patient, Unnikrishnan Sivaraman, had been living with the foreign object from July 1 until it was finally removed on September 11, during which the exact cause of his discomfort went unidentified for some time. the bone, from a milkfish, had settled in the right main bronchus of the patient's lung. Dr Jolsana Augustine, a pulmonologist, and Dr Bharath Neranki Satish Rao, an ENT specialist, carried out the procedure with the support of two anaesthetists, Dr Abhishek Jayaprakash Narayan and Dr Siraj Madayi Meethel.

Using a bronchoscope, the team guided the bone from deep inside the bronchus up toward the upper airway, then used forceps to carefully extract it while protecting the patient's vocal cords from damage. Dr Augustine explained that when a foreign body stays in the airway for a prolonged period, inflammation and the growth of granulation tissue can make removal significantly more difficult, which is why the procedure required particular care.

Following the successful surgery, the patient expressed his gratitude to the medical team for the care and support he received throughout his treatment. Doctors say the case is a reminder that swallowing a fish bone, even when it causes no immediately obvious symptoms, can lead to more serious complications weeks later, and that anyone experiencing persistent coughing or breathing discomfort after eating fish should seek prompt medical attention.