The Emergency Department of E Hospital in Hanoi recently successfully removed a wireless earbud from the abdomen of a 15-year-old patient.

The patient, living in Dich Vong Hau Ward in Cau Giay District, was admitted to the hospital at around 10:35 pm on March 26.

According to the patient’s family, the teenager had been allowed to use a pair of wireless earbuds at around 9:00 pm on the same day.

When the family noticed one earbud was nowhere to be seen ten minutes later, the patient pointed at the stomach.

The family thus rushed the child to the hospital.

Doctors had the patient undergo necessary tests and scans. 

X-ray results showed that there was an earbud in the abdomen of the child.

Having suffered autism since childhood, the patient did not cooperate with the doctors in sampling for tests or screening and anesthesia.

It was not until 2:50 am the next day that Dr. Nguyen Van Thanh of the hospital’s hepatobiliary department managed to perform the flexible bronchoscopy with general anesthesia to successfully pick up the foreign object from the child.

According to the doctors, it was fortunate that the patient had swallowed a slippery and round-shaped object, so it drifted down to the stomach without getting stuck in the esophagus or airway, thus avoiding other dangerous complications.

They added that E Hospital has received many cases of children swallowing foreign objects such as coins, buttons, marbles, stones, nails, screws, and pins recently.

Swallowing objects creates high risks of fatality or brain death from airway obstruction.

Foreign objects can also cause dangerous complications such as pneumonia and abdominal inflammation.

Many children are not even aware that they have swallowed dangerous things.

Therefore, parents are advised to pay attention to their children, take time to play with them, and prevent the children from playing with small objects like coins, marbles, and keys.

In the event that a child accidentally swallows an object, the family needs to quickly bring the child to the nearest medical facility.

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