Six-month-old infant suffered from shortness of breath and coughing - X-ray revealed staple pins in the esophagus
A six-month-old infant suffered from coughing, shortness of breath, and vomiting and was treated repeatedly with inhalations and medications, but his condition did not improve. Only when he arrived at the Assuta Ashdod Public Hospital did an X-ray reveal that a pack of staple pins was in his body, some of which had already pierced the esophageal wall. Teams from three units were required for a complex procedure that lasted about an hour and a half: "He already arrived in a poor respiratory state. It put him at risk."
A six-month-old infant was rushed early this week to the Assuta Ashdod Public Hospital after suffering for a month and a half from a persistent cough, shortness of breath, and wheezing. During this period, his parents sought medical treatment several times, and he was treated with inhalations and various medications, but the symptoms did not subside, and later he even began to vomit. Upon his arrival at the emergency room, an X-ray was performed on the infant, in which a pack of staple pins was discovered stuck in the esophagus. Some of the pins remained connected to each other, while others had scattered and pierced the area.
"He walked around for a month and a half with a cough, shortness of breath, and wheezing," says Dr. Hani Olivestone, director of the Pediatric Gastroenterology Unit at Assuta Ashdod Public Hospital. "They treated him as if he had a virus or asthma, but it didn't resolve. If something doesn't resolve over time, one must also think about the possibility of a foreign body, especially when it comes to an infant who cannot tell you what happened to him."
Due to the location of the pins and the infant's condition, it was decided to take him urgently to the operating room. The procedure involved gastroenterology, ENT, and pulmonary teams, alongside the anesthesia team, due to the fear that some of the pins had also reached the respiratory tract. "We inserted tubes through the mouth or nose and, with the help of tools, extracted the pins one by one," explains Dr. Olivestone. "Some of them were really embedded in the wall, so they had to be removed with effort. It took about an hour and a half; there were many pins."
According to her, the length of time the pins remained in his body had already led to the development of inflammation and infection. "Edema and inflammation were created in the place. This is metal that scratched the esophagus over and over from the inside, and the area became inflamed, infected, and swollen. It could have ended much more severely. He already arrived in a poor respiratory state, and that already put him at risk."
After the pins were removed, the infant received antibiotics, medications to reduce acidity in the esophagus, steroids, and inhalations. At the beginning of the treatment, he was also fed via a nasogastric tube to allow the esophagus to heal. Dr. Olivestone emphasizes that the case should raise awareness of the danger of swallowing foreign bodies among infants and children. "If there are symptoms that do not pass and do not resolve over time, one must also suspect a foreign body. In this case, it was the X-ray that discovered the cause."
