This story is from March 22, 2019

Bengaluru: 18-month-old-girl swallows hair clip, survives

Bengaluru: 18-month-old-girl swallows hair clip, survives
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BENGALURU: An 18-month-old girl from Marathahalli who had swallowed a large hair clip with sharp ends has survived, thanks to timely medical help.
Swara (name changed) was rushed to Rainbow Hospital’s emergency unit around 8.15am on March 20. An X-ray confirmed the parents’ suspicion — the child had swallowed a metallic hair clip with sharp ends, which was resting in her stomach.
The child was at imminent risk of perforation of the stomach and intestine.
An endoscopy was done and doctors managed to remove the clipwith forceps after more than an hour.
Dr Arun Garg, paediatric gastroenterologist, who treated the child, says the girl was extremely lucky for two reasons. First, she got immediate medical attention. Second, the sharp ends of metal clip had not perforated the stomach or intestine wall, which would have required an immediate surgery. “The clip measured about 6cm, which is too big for a small child to swallow. It also had sharp edges on both sides. We usually come across children swallowing coins, button batteries and magnets when they are playing, especially during vacations. In some such cases the child might even die 4-6 hours after swallowing such an object. In this case, during endoscopy, the hair clip was grabbed with the help of forceps and slowly aligned parallel to the oesophagus and was successfully removed,” Dr Arun explained.
The girl’s father said her mother had noticed the child swallowing something and tried to take it out. “We took her to the closest hospital in 15 minutes. Traffic police too helped us reach the hospital early. We are glad that she is fine now because of immediate medical help,” the father said.
Parents be watchful
*Keep away tiny objects like pins/clips, buttons, button batteries, coins and glass pieces
*If a child has swallowed a metal object, he/she may start vomiting and face breathing problems. Such symptoms must not be ignored
* Immediately rush the child to a hospital if you suspect he/she has swallowed any foreign body
*Let children play in safe environment; keep a watch on their activities
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