Doctors in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam have taken many maggots out of the tracheostomy stoma of a local man in a medical operation.

The surgery was performed on 69-year-old P.V.U., who had been taken to Quang Nam General Hospital’s oncology department in a state of fever, difficulty breathing, and painful inflammation and redness in the neck area, doctors said Saturday. 

Doctors found that the patient was suffering a severe infection with foul fluid caused by a lot of maggots living in his tracheostomy stoma.

U. has a history of laryngeal cancer and he has undergone a tracheostomy with cannula, the patient’s family told doctors.

A tracheostomy stoma is an airway that directs air into the trachea without going through the nasopharynx, doctors explained. 

After considering the patient’s pathological conditions, doctors decided to conduct an operation to remove dozens of live maggots from the stoma. 

This is a very rare case recorded in patients with tracheostomy, doctors said, adding that the improper cleaning of the cannula has led to the formation and development of maggots that caused the infection. 

The longer such a condition is left untreated, the more danger it causes, doctors warned.

They recommend that patients with cannula tracheostomy need to have their tracheostomy area cleaned and the tracheostomy dressing changed once a day. 

During the cleaning process, caretakers should observe the skin surrounding the tracheostomy area to detect redness or other abnormal signs, if any, doctors advised.

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