5-year-old boy hospitalized after swallowing 2.5cm dental needle

On January 29, the Vietnam - Cuba Friendship Hospital in Dong Hoi ( Quang Binh ) confirmed that the hospital had just performed an endoscopy under anesthesia to successfully remove a foreign object in the digestive tract, a dental needle, from the digestive tract of a 5-year-old patient.

According to the patient’s family, previously, the child HTT (residing in Phu Thuy commune, Le Thuy district, Quang Binh province) while undergoing dental treatment at a local medical facility accidentally swallowed a needle (dental instrument). After swallowing the foreign object, the patient was taken to the Vietnam – Cuba Friendship Hospital in Dong Hoi for emergency treatment.

As soon as the patient was admitted, the doctors took his medical history and the time of swallowing the foreign object, and performed all necessary tests and paraclinical tests.

5 year old boy hospitalized for swallowing 25cm long dental needle into his abdomen photo 1 — A 2.5cm foreign object was found in the child's digestive tract. Photo: BVCC

On the X-ray, doctors discovered a sharp iron object in the abdomen. They determined that if left for a long time, the risk of the needle puncturing or causing injury to any digestive organs along its path was very high.

Therefore, the team prescribed anesthesia to perform an esophagogastroduodenoscopy. The team included interdisciplinary doctors from Emergency, Diagnostic Imaging, Functional Testing - Endoscopy, Anesthesia - Resuscitation departments who coordinated to perform the endoscopy.

During the endoscopy, the metal foreign body, a sharp-tipped dental needle measuring about 2.5cm, was safely removed by doctors using specialized tools. No bleeding was noted during the examination. After removing the foreign body, the child's health condition was stable.

According to doctors, recently there have been many cases of children swallowing foreign objects and having to be taken to the hospital. Foreign objects in young children are very dangerous and can affect their lives if not detected and taken to a medical facility promptly.

Doctors recommend that children who swallow foreign objects should be hospitalized for monitoring. To prevent accidents caused by children swallowing foreign objects into the airways or digestive tract, families should keep small objects, toys, and sharp objects out of children's reach.

Nguyen Linh

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