Girl survives ordeal on swallowed pin

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

A medical specialist has cautioned on the use of pins following an incident that nearly cost the life of a 13-year-old girl in Al Ain.

“Girls who put hijab should be careful when using a pin or pins. (They) must not hold this/these (with) their lips,” Al Ain Hospital-Pulmonology Department head Dr Saber Al Mishal said.

He reminded that pins should be out of the reach of children who may get hold of these and put them inside their mouth.

Al Mishal gave the advice when Gulf Today was notified on the case of the 13-year-old girl rushed to the hospital recently when she accidentally swallowed a 2.5 centimetre pin “that settled near her heart.”

The accident happened “as she was preparing to wear her veil.”

The “coughing, uncomfortable and terrified” patient was initially seen by doctors at the Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) Clinic after arrival at the Emergency Section of the hospital.

A series of medical tests and analysis revealed the pin had lodged in one of the lower bronchi of the girl’s left lung adjacent to the heart muscle.

The ENT team tried to extricate the pin but was “unsuccessful” so it was determined that the next better option was endoscopy.

Endoscopy is a non-surgical procedure that uses the endoscope which consists of a flexible tube and a camera that could be inserted in the human body to help attending physicians see with the use of a TV monitor the conditions inside, such as the swallowed pin.

“The case was extremely sensitive due to the location of the pin,” Al Mishal said.

He explained the procedure: “Our doctors had to carefully remove the pin without touching the heart or puncturing any veins or arteries that may have caused major internal bleeding.”

“The doctors managed to insert the endoscope and successfully removed the pin from the wall of the (left) lung. They used localised anaesthesia without causing any internal bleeding. The health and safety of our patients are our number one priority,” Al Mishal continued.

The girl was discharged from the hospital the next day. She has been “doing well.”

The girl was not required to go back for post-endoscopy treatment or therapy.

Her family was grateful to the hospital management and staff.