Needle removed from a 17-year-old girl’s stomach

Specialists at Schneider Children’s removed a needle from the stomach lining of a 17-year-old girl this week. The girl was referred to the Emergency Medicine Department (ER) at Schneider after she had swallowed a pin that she was holding between her teeth while organizing a hair covering (Hijab) and was alarmed by an insect she saw on the wall. An x-ray image of her abdomen showed the pin with a rounded head in the lining of the youngster’s stomach. The presence of a needle in the stomach could have led to hemorrhaging, infection and other complications.

The girl was transferred for emergency attention to the Institute of Gastroenterology, Nutrition and Liver Diseases at Schneider, headed by Prof. Raanan Shamir. A gastroscopy was performed while the girl was under general anesthetic by Dr. Noam Zevit, senior physician in the Gastroenterology Institute, with Dr. Eli Simhi, senior anesthetist and Director of the Surgical Recovery Unit at Schneider, aided by nurse Chava Fleishacker. The needle was found deeply imbedded in the stomach lining at the duodenal cap. The needle was carefully extracted using a loop and special forceps via the esophagus and throat. The girl recovered quickly and was discharged in good health.

According to Dr. Noam Zevit, senior physician in the Gastroenterology Institute at Schneider, “the incidence of swallowing Hijab pins and needles is common when girls and women hold them between their teeth while covering their heads. While most of the needles pass through the digestive system without complications, sometimes swallowed pins cause pain, hemorrhaging and infection.”