5 year old child playing with clothes string, got string tied around neck

On May 9, Bach Mai Hospital reported a rare case of a boy who had to go to the emergency room because his clothes' drawstring was tied around his neck, causing dangerous suffocation.

The child was admitted to the Pediatric Center - Bach Mai Hospital, during the recent April 30 - May 1 holiday.

The family discovered the boy with a rope around his neck, hanging from a mosquito net rope, and was hospitalized in a state of cyanosis and lethargy.

Drawstring marks on the neck of a 5-year-old boy (Photo: Nguyen Ha).

The patient's father said that 3 hours before being admitted to the hospital, the child and his two older brothers (aged 8 and 11) were playing and watching TV together in a separate room. After the accident, the family reviewed the camera footage from the time the children entered the room until the family discovered it, about 12 minutes.

Also according to the camera footage, when entering the private room, the child was holding a rope about 80cm long.

When the family discovered it, the child had a drawstring wrapped around his neck and was hanging from a mosquito net hanging across the room. At that time, the child was showing signs of cyanosis and difficulty breathing.

As soon as the child was put down, the family performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions on the spot for 5 minutes. The child began breathing on his own again, his lips were pink, but he was still drowsy and unconscious, so the family took a car to take the child to the Agricultural General Hospital for emergency care.

Here, the patient was lethargic and agitated, with suspected brain damage caused by the strangulation strap. Although the results of the brain and cervical spine scans showed no abnormalities, the doctor still decided to transfer the patient to Bach Mai Hospital for further monitoring and assessment.

The child is now stable after treatment (Photo: Nguyen Ha).

At the time of admission to the Pediatric Center, the patient was in a coma, had an endotracheal tube inserted, had scattered dot-like hemorrhages in the head and face area, and had a 0.5cm diameter, 25cm long mark in the anterior neck area.

The child was quickly given emergency care and treated with the high-tech method of "directed hypothermia" (active).

Doctor Doan Phuc Hai - Pediatric Center said, the patient's body temperature was quickly lowered and maintained at 34⁰C, reducing damage, reperfusion in the brain, increasing survival rate and restoring neurological function.

After 72 hours of active hypothermia treatment, the patient's body temperature was raised, rewarmed to normal levels, and monitored for 48 hours.

When the body temperature returned to normal, the patient gradually regained consciousness and the breathing tube was removed. Vital signs were stable, with good consciousness. After 5 days in the hospital, the patient was completely awake.

Results of heart, lung, brain MRI, cervical spine showed no abnormalities.

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Nam - Director of the Pediatric Center, Bach Mai Hospital said that this is the first time the center has received a case of a child being strangled while playing with a drawstring.

Dr. Nam recommends that to prevent unfortunate accidents, parents should not let children play with drawstrings, handbag strings, curtain strings, phone charger cords, headphone cords, etc.

Avoid wearing clothing with long drawstrings, especially in the collar or hood area.

Children aged 2-6 are very active and do not yet recognize the dangers of surrounding objects, so they need to be supervised. Never let children play alone in a room with many objects that pose a risk of accidents.

Adults also need to regularly educate children, teach them not to wrap ropes around their necks, not to climb with ropes, and not to play with ropes near them.

Need to tie up or remove curtain cords, hanging cords of objects in the baby's room.

In case of an accident, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) should be performed on young children.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/be-5-tuoi-nghich-day-quan-ao-bi-day-that-vao-co-20250509173412681.htm