Great fear for a 1-year-old girl , who risked her life after swallowing a button battery but was saved thanks to the collaboration between doctors at the Aou Meyer Irccs in Florence and the Heart Hospital in Massa .

The little girl left the intensive care unit of the Heart Hospital a few days ago after being admitted to intensive care. It is the third similar case that has occurred in Tuscany in just two months . In November 2024, a little girl had, unfortunately, died after swallowing a battery while on another occasion a little boy had been saved.

The little girl in question arrived at the Meyer emergency room last Thursday . Her parents had noticed that she was having trouble swallowing and told the doctors that their daughter had been playing with a flashlight before falling asleep .

The doctors at Meyer immediately performed an x-ray that revealed the presence of the object - two centimeters in diameter - in the upper esophageal sphincter. Although in scientific literature the most dangerous point is considered to be the middle part of the esophagus (due to its proximity to the aortic arch that can be damaged), the operators at the Florentine pediatric hospital decided to proceed with maximum urgency.

"The presence of a battery in the esophageal cavity - explains Roberto Lo Piccolo, the surgeon who performed the life-saving operation - causes three types of damage: electrical, mechanical and chemical . First of all, in such a narrow cavity as the esophagus, the anode and cathode in the battery are activated and in a very short time are capable of seriously damaging the mucosa of the walls, causing even very extensive ulcerations. Added to this is the possible loss of acid with even more serious consequences".

The operation had to be performed with cardiac surgeons ready to intervene, so the little girl was taken to the Hospital of the Heart of Massa Fondazione Monasterio where echocardiography ruled out vascular and cardiac damage . The Monasterio staff performed the preparation for general anesthesia and monitoring of the little girl. "We welcomed the little patient in the Hybrid Room because - explains Dr. Paolo Del Sarto, director of the Anesthesia and Resuscitation Unit of Monasterio - that room allows us to perform, if necessary, not only a life-saving cardiac surgery, but also any radiological and angiographic tests to document any vascular lesions".

The operation, performed by endoscopy by Dr. Lo Piccolo, was not easy: the battery had already become lodged in the tissues of the esophagus and had created a lesion. It was necessary to insert 5-millimeter diameter instruments into the patient's oral cavity and use tiny forceps to remove the foreign body. Fortunately, there was no damage to the aorta, but the child was still transferred to intensive care for a few days. Her condition gradually improved and she was able to be transferred to the pediatric ward of the Ospedale del Cuore.

Dr. Lo Piccolo launches an appeal to parents: «Be careful with batteries. They are very dangerous objects».

(Unioneonline/vl)

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