Kochi, June 9 (IANS): A 37-year-old Keralite could finally breathe easy after a fish bone stuck in his lungs was removed after seven years.

Arun Nair, head of interventional pulmonary department at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre here, said the patient, who is with the Oman military, Service has been under routine medical attention since 2009.

According to the man's medical records, he had been suffering from recurrent pneumonia since then. But he could finally breathe freely on Saturday when the fish bone was removed.

Nair told IANS that the patient underwent a successful rigid bronchoscopy procedure and a fish bone measuring 1.5 cm x 1.4 cm tucked away in the lower lobe of the right lung was removed successfully and the pus formed around it drained out.

"It was life threatening. There was pus formation behind the foreign body... The lung behind it had become necrotic," said Nair.

The doctor said the fish bone was never detected by doctors during earlier hospitalisations in Oman as CT scans did not pick it up.

Normally such foreign bodies get stuck in the lungs of children, but it is rare for such a thing to happen with adults.

"When there is a foreign body in the lung, the lung gets destroyed. It is unusual to have a foreign body remained undetected for seven years.

"Removing it after such a long time was challenging as there was excessive tissue growth around the foreign body. The patient will be discharged soon," added Nair.