Doctor Nguyen Tuong Thy, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Children’s Hospital 2, on October 21, said that the child was brought to the emergency room with a 0.2 cm long wound in the trachea. The hospital activated the red alert, transferring the child to the operating room within 5 minutes of admission. The entire shift was mobilized to be ready for any situation.
Doctors quickly assessed the open wound in the neck, performed a tracheoscopy, and discovered a torn trachea. Air instead of going into the lungs leaked through the torn site, causing the child to have difficulty breathing and lack of oxygen.

The child was intubated through the torn site, and a CT scan of the neck was taken to assess deep-seated injuries that could have been missed. Doctors then performed surgery to suture the trachea and reconstruct the injuries. The child is recovering well after surgery.
The child is recovering after surgery. Photo provided by the hospital.
The child is recovering after surgery. Photo provided by the hospital.

According to Dr. Thy, this is a very rare accident and is especially dangerous when the injury is in the trachea. The child can die from the brain if the airway is blocked and cannot supply oxygen to the brain after a few minutes. “Fortunately, the injury only tore part of the trachea, did not damage the large blood vessels and was treated very quickly and effectively from the beginning,” Dr. Thy analyzed.
Dr. Thy said that the height of the child is almost equal to the dog’s mouth, so the wounds caused by dog bites are often in the head and neck area instead of the arms and legs like adults. Bites are very dangerous, can transmit bacteria, rabies virus, and can be especially fatal if the trachea or large blood vessels in the head and neck area are damaged.

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The doctor recommends that parents should limit raising dogs when there are small children in the house, if there are, absolutely do not let the child play alone with the dog without anyone watching. When raising a dog, it is necessary to vaccinate it fully, wear a muzzle when going out, and leash the dog when left unattended.