TRICHY: A

, that got stuck inside the respiratory tract of 55-year-old woman, was removed by a team of doctors at the Pudukottai Government Medical College Hospital without operation on Saturday.

The doctors removed the the screw using a bronchoscope equipped with a video camera.

The patient, Pushpam of Patammal Viduthi in Karambakkudi of Pudukottai district, was suffering from dry cough for the last one month. After she developed haemoptysis, where the patient coughs out blood-tinged sputum, she approached the hospital last Thursday.

On examination, it was found that the screw of a nose stud was stuck in the woman's

. The

process was carried on Saturday.

"Endoscopic removal is a big achievement as it avoided the problems of major surgery. Bronchoscopy doesn't require any preparation. We sprayed the airway to anesthetise it and the screw was pulled up," said Dr A L Meenakshi Sundaram, dean of Pudukottai Medical College Hospital .

"We had the advantage of having the thread visible in front. Since the diameter of the head is wide, we could catch hold of the head and pull it up through the bronchus. The moment the screw was removed, the lungs started expanding," he said.

The screw had collapsed the passage and that segment of the lung wasn't getting sufficient oxygen and she had repeated cough.

The X-Ray itself showed the screw.

The treatment was done free of cost at the hospital, Sundaram added.