Small pin, big danger: Swallowing objects is a danger most often associated with toddlers and small children, but even at later ages putting foreign objects in the mouth can be life threatening. Even when it comes to a small pin.
A 14-year-old resident of the northern region arrived at the Ruth Children’s Hospital in Rambam the other day, after inserting a pin into his mouth as a game and accidentally swallowing it. The boy felt well after the swallowing incident, but still came to safety for examination at the hospital.
Upon arrival at the hospital, the boy took an X-ray which showed that the pin he had swallowed had progressed along the digestive tract and was located in the passage between the small intestine and the large intestine.
The place where the pin was found did not allow its progress in the digestive system to continue and due to its location it could have punctured the boy’s organs and endangered his life.
The location of the pin also did not allow the treating staff to pull it out orally and therefore it was decided to perform its removal with an endoscopic approach, in a camera-guided manner, through the anus, when the boy was blurred. The procedure, which lasted about 20 minutes, ended successfully and after the boy recovered he was released to his home feeling well.
“It seems that this is just a small pin, but precisely in this case a great danger could have materialized for the boy who swallowed it. You have to be very careful with the things that are put in the mouth, “points out Prof. Ron Shaul, director of the children’s gastro unit at Rambam, adding:” The objects can be accidentally swallowed at any age and endanger the person who put them in the mouth. “When it comes to the younger ages, in which the children understand less, of course the children must be well supervised and the danger avoided.”
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