4-Year-Old Boy Swallows AA Battery, Survives After Timely Medical Aid.

~ Doctors at Rela Hospital removed the AA battery, size of 5cm in length and 1.5 cm of diameter through Endoscopy using Roth net ~

Chennai, February 2022: An expert Doctors team from Rela Hospital saved a four-year-old boy from Chennai who had accidentally swallowed a AA battery while playing with it and got stuck inside the stomach. The expert team spearheaded by Dr R Ravi, Group Director & Senior Gastroenterologist, Rela Hospital removed the battery successfully from the stomach through the endoscopy method of inserting a tube fixed with Roth net through the boy’s mouth and saved the boy. The battery was removed within 14 hours of ingestion.

Master Arvind (name changed), a 4-year-old boy from Chennai was rushed into Rela Emergency after he swallowed a Large AA battery size 5cm in length and 1.5 cm of diameter, while he was playing with a remote. Luckily, he informed his parents who immediately took him to a nearby hospital. Considering its level of complications from the x-ray, he was directed to Rela Hospital, Chromepet. After careful examinations, the team of Gastroenterologist found through an X-ray that the battery was in the stomach, and due to the large size of the battery, removing by endoscopy was challenging as the battery had to be aligned vertically or else it would have caused injury to the food pipe of the child.

“We usually see small objects such as buttons, coins, button batteries etc being ingested by the children. It is unusual for a small child to ingest such a large battery. Large objects and sharp objects are very difficult to remove as it can damage the food pipe while trying to remove with endoscopy”, said Dr R Ravi, Group Director & Senior Gastroenterologist, Rela Hospital

Dr R Ravi further explained that “Even for an adult, the size of the battery is too large. We wonder how the child swallowed it. The bigger the foreign body that was being ingested, the higher the complication will be to remove. So, in this situation we did an endoscopy using Roth Net and took a considerable amount of time to successfully retrieve the battery without causing slightest damage to his internal organs.”

Post endoscopy and his time at the hospital, the kid is back to normalcy. In fact, he had a portion of food within two hours after the endoscopic procedure, and he was discharged on the same day. According to doctors, if the boy didn’t mention about it to his parents and if the battery was left inside his stomach, it could have been eroded by the acid inside the stomach and could have become life threatening for the child by corroding his oesophagus (food pipe).

The boy’s father shared that, “When we rushed to Rela Hospital, first the doctors told us to wait and kept our son in observation for 12 hours to see if there are any chances for the battery to get out through excretion. But, since there weren’t any chances, they assured us and finally removed the battery through endoscopy and showed it to us. Doctors told us if we came late, it could have been fatal. We are grateful that now our son is all fine without any issues.”

This incident is a serious warning signal for all the parents. Considering this, Dr Naresh Shanmugam, Director – Women and Child Health, Rela Hospital said, “As parents, when we allow our children to play with certain toys and articles, we have to be quite careful as they can put foreign objects in their mouth and nose. Particularly with batteries, they will corrode. Similarly, magnets can also be very dangerous as they can get attached to two side of intestine. So, please be careful!”.

About Rela Hospital:

Rela Hospital, an International Medical facility, is a quaternary care hospital dedicated to fostering and responding to the needs of a diverse patient population. The hospital provides high-quality healthcare with state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities and experienced, caring medical professionals.

Rela Hospital is designed to provide multi-specialty care with a special focus on multi-organ transplantation and critically ill patients. In addition to quaternary care in all specialties, the hospital is committed to providing day-to-day “primary and secondary care” to patients. Rela Hospital is a multi-super specialty hospital in a sprawling landscape of 36 acres located in Chrompet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

• The facility, with 450 beds inclusive of 130 critical-care beds, 14 operating rooms, and sophisticated reference laboratories and radiology services, is conveniently located close to the road, rail, and air transport.
• Rela Hospital is led and managed by world-renowned doctors who are committed to healthcare.
• Rela Hospital offers a wide spectrum of clinical care, education, and research.

 

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