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A 1-year-old toddler from Beit Shemesh was evacuated by emergency rescue teams to the trauma unit at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem after a metal skewer got stuck in her head following a domestic accident.
According to her family, the toddler got off the couch in her home headfirst and fell onto a laundry basket made of metal parts. During the fall, a metal skewer got stuck in her head, causing great panic. Despite the injury, the toddler remained fully conscious.
She was treated by staff of the Pediatric Emergency Department and by neurosurgeons. Imaging tests showed that the metal skewer had not penetrated the skull but was superficially embedded in it. Consequently, surgery was deemed unnecessary.
According to pediatric emergency medicine specialist Dr. Lea Sarna Cahan, the foreign object was carefully removed following a medical assessment.
"After the metal rod was removed, a re-examination of the injured area was performed,” Dr. Sarna Cahan said. “The incision was carefully cleaned and sutured, and the toddler was transferred to the Pediatric Emergency Department for observation."
Senior neurosurgeon Dr. Andrés Vargas said, "It was sheer luck that the skewer was embedded in the skull and did not penetrate it. The trauma unit assessed that this was not a case that required surgery, and the injury was treated locally, with no significant damage."
The toddler is expected to be discharged home in the coming days and return to full activity.
Following the incident, doctors wished to convey an important message to the public. Dr. Sarna Cahan emphasized that in any case where a sharp object or foreign body is embedded in the body, one should not attempt to remove it independently and should instead seek medical treatment instead.
Listen to Small Patients, Big Emergencies, our Hadassah On Call podcast episode about the Pediatric Emergency Department at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem.
