After toddler swallowed 3.5 centimeter-long screw he found while playing, doctor pulls it out through his esophagus and throat.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHx ray of screw inside toddler's body(photo credit: Schneider Children’s Medical Center)
A sharp, 3.5 centimeter-long screw swallowed by a toddler, which could have punctured his stomach and other organs, was removed in emergency procedure under general anesthesia on Sunday at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva.The three-year-old boy had found the piece of metal while playing. Dr. Noam Zavit, a senior gastroenterologist at the hospital, said if it had not been removed rapidly and with much care and skill, it could have caused hemorrhaging and other serious complications.
The boy’s older brother alerted their parents that the screw had been swallowed. Rushed to the hospital, the toddler was examined by Zavit, who used a tiny “basket” to pick up the screw and pull it out through the esophagus and throat.Just two months ago, the same team pulled an open safety pin from the throat of an 11-month-old baby.“It is fortunate that this three-year-old did not suffer long-term damage,” he concluded.
