Hospital removes coins, necklace from colon

Doctors at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot thought they were opening a vending machine when they removed eight coins and a necklace from a woman’s digestive system.

The married 32-year-old with personality problems had swallowed them about two months ago.

Dr. Ehud Meltzer, head of the hospital’s gastroenterological institute, said he had never encountered such a case before and that it was amazing she had held the metallic coins in her body for so long without them causing serious harm. They clearly presented a risk to her life and health, he added.

The coins were shekel or two-shekel pieces, while the necklace was metallic – all found in her colon.

The woman, who was embarrassed by being discovered, suffered from stomach pains for weeks and a bad feeling in general. The colonoscopy that was performed to remove the coins and the necklace did not cause harm to her internal organs.

A scan showed that the metallic foreign objects were situated at the opening of her appendix. She was given a sedative, and the objects were pulled out of her rectum.

She was sent for an examination by a psychiatrist and psychologist.

Meltzer said that foreign objects like this usually pass out of the gastroenterological system naturally, but because there was a cluster of them, they got stuck. They were rusty because of the amount of time they remained inside, and they could have caused perforation of the intestine.

Meltzer warned parents to keep foreign objects away from children, who can be at even greater danger because of their size. If such an incident is suspected, one should rush to the nearest hospital emergency room, he said.