But what has to be done, must be done
Great excitement in the school. The 7 year-old Keyla* has swallowed a 1 Sol coin (roughly €0.28). In theory such an amount is not really that important, but in practise, if the coin is stuck in the upper oesophagus, it is a totally different kettle of fish. Since, if it is not removed from there, it can break through the gullet and cause a mediastinitis (an inflammation of the tissues in the mid-chest).
Under a general anaesthetic Dr Klaus John inserts the endoscope. He tries to take hold of the coin with his small pliers in order to remove it, but the Sol’s size and the pliers’ slipperiness frustrate his efforts. As a second measure, he inserts a probe using video monitoring into the oesophagus at the end of which is a small balloon that can be inflated from the outside. The hope that this often-performed procedure – which works more often than not -, in which the balloon when it is being extracted takes the coin with it, proves unsuccessful.
Thus plan C has to be put into action. The coin is pushed into the stomach with the hope that it will be passed out of the body naturally. Yesterday, on Friday, the coin saw the light of day again. (*Name was changed)
