Swallowed open safety pin and amulet in infants: Consequences of a tradition in Turkey

Summary

Ingestion of safety pins (SP) is relatively uncommon in infants. To attach an amulet with SP on the clothes of a baby is widely-accepted as a tradition in Turkey with the result that ingestion of open SP is more common here. 15 patients were admitted during a 3 year period after having swallowed an open safety pin; eight were males in the age range 7–12 months. All of the patients were asymptomatic. The sites of the foreign bodies were; the oesophagus (four), stomach (four), duodenum (three), small bowel (three), and rectum (one). Extraction by means of flexible gastroscopy was successful in 10 patients (90.6 %) while one (9.4 %) required a laparotomy. The remaining four patients discharged the foreign body via the rectum without any complication. Endoscopic extraction of open safety pins with the flexible endoscope is usually successful in infants.

Keywords:

• safety pin
• foreign body
• flexible gastroscopy
• children.