Rare case of a baby girl being pierced through the anus by a tree branch, remaining in the stomach for 4 months

(Dan Tri) - A rare accident when falling into a pond near her house caused a little girl to carry a 16cm long tree branch in her abdomen for more than 4 months.

On September 30, a representative of Children's Hospital 2 (HCMC) said that doctors there had just successfully performed surgery on a rare case, removing a dangerous foreign object that had been in a girl's abdomen for a long time.

Dr. Nguyen Hien, General Surgery Department, said the patient was HML (3 years old, residing in Dak Lak province). According to the medical history, about 4 months ago, the child fell into a pond near his house and was taken to a local medical facility for 2 months of treatment by relatives.

A month after being discharged from the hospital, baby L. had a high fever and coughed a lot. Returning to the local hospital, she was initially diagnosed and treated for pneumonia. However, during an ultrasound examination, doctors discovered a strange mass in her abdomen, suspected to be a foreign object, so they immediately transferred the girl to Children's Hospital 2.

Baby girl with tree branch stuck in her abdomen for a long time (Photo: Hospital).

Here, the CT scan results showed that the patient had a 1x16cm foreign object located from the rectum to the liver. The endoscopy team determined that the foreign object had penetrated the rectum, small intestine and duodenum, causing severe inflammation and adhesions, making surgery difficult.

Doctors performed open surgery to separate along the foreign object, separating the entire intestine, avoiding damage to blood vessels, nerves, ureters and other organs.

After 4 hours of surgery, the doctors removed the 16cm long tree branch from the baby's abdomen and treated the bleeding, stitched the wounds, and made a temporary anus. Currently, the baby's health is gradually recovering, and he is expected to be discharged soon. A follow-up appointment and a plan to close the temporary anus are being made.

"Fortunately, the foreign object did not penetrate the major blood vessels, so it did not affect his life. In addition, because the patient had aspiration pneumonia, we used broad-spectrum antibiotics to treat the infection, which inadvertently inhibited the infection caused by the foreign object," a member of the treatment team shared.

According to Dr. Nguyen Hien, Children's Hospital 2 has recorded cases of foreign objects penetrating the anus when children were playing or bathing in ponds, lakes, rivers and streams. However, the case of baby L. is very rare, because the tree branch was long and had been in the baby's abdomen for quite a long time.

If foreign objects are left in the abdomen for a long time, they can penetrate organs, causing severe infections, multiple organ failure, and endangering life.

Foreign object after being removed from the girl's abdomen (Photo: Hospital).

Doctors recommend that parents need to supervise their children when they are playing, especially during the rainy and stormy season when trees can easily fall, to avoid unfortunate accidents.

In particular, absolutely do not let children go near or play in ponds, lakes, rivers and streams without adult supervision; do not cross flooded bridges or roads. In case of household accidents, parents need to take their children to the nearest medical facility for timely examination and treatment.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/hy-huu-be-gai-bi-canh-cay-dam-xuyen-hau-mon-nam-trong-bung-suot-4-thang-20250930161848347.htm