Vajpayee taken to AIIMS for routine check-up

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee underwent a routine check-up of his wind pipe at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on Sunday.

86-year-old Vajpayee, who is suffering from various age-related ailments, was taken to the premier institute at around 10.30 am and was there for about an hour.

Randeep Guleria, Professor of Medicine at AIIMS said the BJP veteran came for a "routine check-up".

Vajpayee underwent a tracheotomy at the AIIMS on February 13 last year when he was admitted following a chest infection. He was also found to be suffering from pneumonia. After he underwent the procedure, he began showing signs of recovery.

He undergoes tracheotomy tube revision with the hospital at regular intervals, every two or three months, doctors said.

A tracheotomy is a surgical procedure to create an opening through the neck into the trachea (windpipe). A tube is usually placed through this opening to provide an airway and to remove secretions from the lungs. This tube is called a tracheotomy tube or trach tube.

"This tube is changed at regular intervals to avoid any infection," a doctor said.