A child’s curiosity can often lead them to some dangerous and life threatening situations often without the knowledge of the parents.
A doctor recently shared his experience of having to tend to a child who had accidentally swallowed a 50 cent coin.
In a post on Twitter, Dr Mohd Shaiful said, “IF IT WRONGLY ENTERS THE CHANNEL, IT COULD BE DEADLY!!!”
“This is the story of OnCall last night, a week before Ramadan,” he said.
JIKA SILAP MASUK SALURAN, BOLEH MEMBAWA MAUT!!!
Ini cerita OnCall di malam tadi. seminggu sebelum menjelang RAMADAN.
Ikuti bebenang ini ? pic.twitter.com/8hhHzhLwKh
— Dr Mohd Shaiful Nizam | Epul | (@Dr_Shaiful) March 27, 2022
What happened?
Shaiful who is an expert in ENT surgery explained that he was told by his medical officer (MO) that a 7-year-old was in the emergency ward after swallowing a coin.
“I asked about the condition of the child and whether or not they were having difficulty breathing. I also asked what did the x-ray find?”
The MO then responded that the patient is stable and that the x-ray found something in their esophagus.
This made Shaiful feel relieved as he said that one of the main concerns of ENT specialists is that when a child swallows something foreign, there is the risk of entry into the respiratory tract, not the esophagus.
If something had been in the respiratory tract, the patient can experience shortness of breath which can lead to death.
Fortunately, the surgical procedure of removing the coin which was stuck in the esophageal canal was simple without any serious complications.
“It only took a few minutes under full anesthesia. Alhamdulillah. The 50 cent coin was successfully taken out.”
Advice to parents
Shaiful went on to urge parents to be more careful with their children.
Buat Ibu/Bapa/Penajag… SENTIASALAH AWASI permainan anak2 anda.
❎ Elakkan memberi mainan kecil kpd anak2 yang suka masukkan sesuatu ke dalam mulut mereka.
❎ Jangan ajar anak2 bermain magic, hilangkan benda ke dalam mulut.
❎Elakkan bergurau ketika ada benda didalam mulut. pic.twitter.com/NMAxVlHV7o— Dr Mohd Shaiful Nizam | Epul | (@Dr_Shaiful) March 27, 2022
“Mother, father or caretaker… please always be aware of what your children is playing with.”
“Don’t give small toys to kids who like to put things into their mouths. Don’t teach children ‘magic tricks’ of making things disappear with your mouths. And don’t play around when you have something in your mouth.”
“Final tip of advice, immediately bring your child to the hospital if you see that they have swallowed anything they’re not supposed to,” he added.
Have you or someone you know ever had to go to the hospital for accidentally swallowing something they were not supposed to? Let us know in the comments.
