A 15-year-old girl had a hairpin removed from her stomach in Shaare Zedek Medical Center this week after walking around for two days with it stuck there.
The girl accidentally placed her hairpin between her teeth while trying to rearrange her hijab and accidentally swallowed it when she bent down. After waiting at home for a couple of hours, she decided to go to the closest clinic where they told her to wait for it to pass naturally.
After two days when the pin hadn't come out, the girl started to feel growing pain in her stomach, and she realized she would need intervention.
Her clinic doctor referred her to the hospital where a series of tests was done and it was discovered that the hairpin had become stuck in her stomach. Within two hours of arriving at the hospital, she had the procedure done.
The procedure
Prof. Dan Turner, who performed the procedure, said that the hairpin had created a hole in her stomach lining and that an infection had begun to develop.
"Thanks to clever techniques, the innovative endoscope saved us the need to operate," said Turner. "A special technique that protects the esophagus with a rubber covering" was done and "the pin was removed from the stomach lining without doing any harm to the stomach or esophagus."
"Thanks to clever techniques, the innovative endoscope saved us the need to operate."
Prof. Dan Turner
Turner explained that Shaare Zedek has seen many cases where women swallow their hairpins but they usually do eventually pass naturally in their stool. In cases in which they don't, intervention is required.