Sharp Pin Removed

A 3.5cm sharp pin was removed from the lung of a 3-year-old toddler this week by specialists at Schneider Children's.The child had suffered from incessant coughing and intermittent high fever over a number of weeks. Surprising community doctors, a chest x-ray revealed a long and sharp pin embedded in her lung which she had inhaled. The child was rushed to Schneider for treatment.

The team in the operating room, including ENT specialists, intensivists, anesthetists and surgical nurses, prepared rapidly to remove the foreign body that was especially challenging due to the risk of punching the lung during the procedure.

Dr. Yoram Stern, Director of the Upper Respiratory Tract Unit at Schneider Children's, located the pin and using forceps under endoscopy succeeded in extracting the pin from the lung. Dr. Stern was assisted by Dr. Moshe Hein, senior ENT physician, Dr. Meir Mei-Zahav, Director of the Asthma Unit in the Institute of Pulmonology, Dr. Yelena Zeitlin, Director of Anesthesiology, and anesthesiologist Dr. Alana Sanko. Following the surgery, the child recovered in the Department of Pediatrics C and was discharged the following day in good health.

Dr. Stern noted that "infants and small children are unable to cope well with swallowing and breathing at the same time. It is important to remember that every item put into the mouth could enter the airways and even reach the lungs as in this case. Luckily, in a joint team effort involving ENTs, pulmonologists and anesthesiologists, we were able to remove the pin from the lung without any damage and the child was discharged the following day. We repeat and warn parents to pay attention to move all small items out of reach from infants and small children which could enter their lungs."