DOCTORS saved a three-year-old girl by extracting a button battery which she had accidentally swallowed.
The child was rushed to the Royal Hospital for Women and Children in Riffa after she was found to have swallowed the object.
The medical team, led by paediatric gastroenterology consultant Dr Souheil Shabib, acted swiftly and extracted the battery from the child’s intestine endoscopically, avoiding further surgical intervention.
“The danger is that button batteries tend to stick to the walls of the intestine and discharge its electrical load, causing the underlying tissues to burn within a few hours,” Dr Shabib said.
“Eventually it may lead to a perforation in the gut.
“Infants and toddlers accidentally swallow things that appear attractive to them such as household cleaning products, coins, toys, small batteries and plastic.
“These foreign bodies can cause immediate danger or have long-term adverse effects on the child’s health by blocking the airway. It could also lead to burning of internal organs, obstruction, perforation of the gut and in some cases, even death.”
Button batteries can be found in toys, remote controls, car keys, musical greeting cards and small electronic devices such as calculators and weighing scales.
The doctor urged parents to be more responsible and ensure that such small items are out of reach of children at all times.
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