Pune: A two-year-old girl child was brought to the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Department of Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) by her mother, who alleged that the child had swallowed a safety pin. The patient was referred to SGH from another hospital for further examination.

Dr Ajay Chandanwale, Dean of BJ General Medical College and SGH, said that clinical examination of the two-year-old revealed normal ear, nose and mild retention of saliva in oral cavity.

“Chest examination was also normal. However, the chest X-ray revealed a radio opaque safety pin like object with open sharp ends below the level of the clavicle. A diagnosis of safety pin in throat was established and the patient was taken to operation theatre (OT) for removal of foreign body under general anesthesia by using rigid direct oesophagoscope and long foreign body forcep,” said Chandanwale.

Oesophagoscope is an instrument for the inspection or treatment of the oesophagus. The oesophagus is a long, muscular tube that connects your mouth to your stomach. Intra operatively, a greyish silver colored safety pin was found just within the crico-phayrngeal sphincter, near the throat, which was then removed. The young girl was kept under observation for 24 hours and was later discharged with no history of vomiting, dysphagia and breathlessness post operation informed SGH officials. Along with Dr Chandanwale, Dr Samir Joshi, Dr Neeraj Nalawade, Dr Sonali Dewang and team successfully handled the case.