BENGALURU: Routine play may nearly have turned tragic for a little girl in the city, after she swallowed parts of a toy and ended up with severe stomach pain and burns in her intestine. A four-and-a-half-year old girl was taken her to a hospital after she complained of continuous severe stomach pain and bled while passing stools.
An X-ray revealed nine bits of magnets and a lithium iron battery in her intestine. The batter had burned the intestinal wall at two places and created holes. Neither endoscopy nor colonoscopy had any effect, so doctors at Rainbow Children’s Hospital had to perform a four-hour surgery to remove the objects.
Dr Antony Robert Charles, pediatric surgeon at the hospital, said the case was unusual as the girl had complained of severe tummy pain. “We were shocked to see that there were nine magnetic bits and a lithium ion battery in the intestine. Until we showed the X-ray to the parents, they had no clue that she had consumed so many foreign objects,” Dr Charles said.
The girl’s father told the doctors that they had bought a toy with magnets and battery for their eldest daughter who was seven, but the younger child ended up swallowing it. Dr Charles said. “I urge parents to be vigilant while kids are playing with toys as they are very vulnerable.”