PIN IN LUNG

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22461, 3 July 1936, Page 8

PIN IN LUNG

SWALLOWED BY BABY

PROBLEM FOR SURGEONS

DIFFICULT OPERATION PLANNED

[from a special correspondent]

LONDON, June 6

The medical -world is puzzled by the etrango case of baby Thomas Custy, 23 months old, who laughs and plays with his toys in King's Collego Hospital, London. Many times in the last few months, learned doctors and surgeons have gathered round his cot. They have prodded' him and sounded him. They have put things in his mouth. They havo turned bright lights on him. Still he laughs and wonders what all the fuss is about.

It is about a safety pin. The pin is open.. And the brains of some of the Severest men in the world aro being racked by the problem of closing it. Five months ago, baby Tom, playing in his homo at Crowley Lane, Oldham, swallowed the pin and it went down the wrong way. Instead of passing into the baby's stomach it went by the windpipe into the lung, where it lodged. Frantic, his mother rushed him to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital a; Pendlebury, where an X-ray showed the safety pin deeply embedded, hinge upward, and sharp point down. The baby appeared to bo in such danger that an operation was performed at once. A bronchoscope—a long telescopic periscope containing an electric light and an arrangement of mirrors with tweezers at the end —was put down his throat. The pin was reached, but could not be moved without damage to the lung. The baby then lay for several weeks in an oxygen tent and another unsuccessful operation was performed. Still he smiled. Six weeks ago his mother brought him to the London Hospital, where wise men examined him, shook their puzzled heads, and went into conference about this new problem to medical science. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that they will find a way to solve it. As the baby is perfectly healthy and shows no signs of pain or other distress there is no reason for haste. When everything is ready and the surgeons have decided just ho\v to go about it, a third operation will be performed. They will remove the pin if they can, and if they cannot they will close it. The body and internal organs are so tiny that the task will be delicate and difficult. One of Britain's greatest surgeons will perform the operation and whatever happens when the baby grows up he will have something to talk about even if he does not remember a thing about it.