Israeli girl swallows beer bottle cap – here’s how doctors saved her

“She was lucky that the cap reached her esophagus and not the airways, which could have caused immediate suffocation.”

By World Israel News Staff

A team of Israeli doctors saved the life of a 14-year-old girl after she swallowed a Corona beer bottle cap, in an unusual incident.

The teen arrived at Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya with difficulty swallowing, the hospital said. Her parents said she had been complaining of a sore throat for several days – so sore that she had eaten almost nothing.

In the pediatric emergency room, the team led by pediatrician Dr. Ali Khatib, performed an examination, including an X-ray, which revealed the foreign object in her esophagus. She was quickly transferred to the operating theatre, where — with dedicated endoscopic equipment — a team from the Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery department removed a Corona cap.

She stayed in the hospital for one day and then was released home.

The child had special needs, which made it difficult to communicate what had happened.

“She was lucky that the cap reached her esophagus and not the airways, which could have caused immediate suffocation,” said Dr. Maayan Gruber, director of the Pediatric Otolaryngology Unit at the medical center.

He explained that a foreign body stuck in the esophagus can be dangerous, especially when it has pointed edges – like the Corona cap.

“This can lead to a rupture of the esophagus and a life-threatening infection in the neck and chest,” he said.

Gruber added that parents of young children and children with special needs should do their best to keep such objects from kids.

“During the corona pandemic, we noticed an increase in the number of babies and children who came to us having ingested or inhaled foreign objects, and we attribute it to the fact during this time, many children were at home for a long time, due to quarantine, lockdown or other reasons, leading to increased chance and risk of home accidents,” Gruber said. “Therefore, especially during this period, parents must keep an extra eye on their children.”