350-gm plastic, rubber bands removed from 4-yr-old kid’s stomach

Tribune News Service
Patiala, March 18

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Plastic and rubber bands, weighing around 350 gm, were removed from the small intestine of a four-year-old boy at Government Rajindra Hospital. Doctors were happy to save the life of the toddler through a successful operation.

The four-year-old boy, a resident of Rajgarh, was operated upon by Dr Ravi Kumar Garg, a paediatric surgeon, along with team of other doctors. Indigestible material had to be removed by laparotomy, said doctors.

“Entire small intestine was loaded with threads of plastic sacks and rubber bands. Consequently, some part of the intestine was also damaged,” said Dr Garg.

“We rarely perform such surgeries on small kids, but we had to do so because it was the case of an emergency,” Dr Garg added.

While talking about the cause of problem, Dr Garg said the child was habitual of eating plastic threads and rubber bands. “Usually, this type of behaviour of ingestion of indigestible material is found in psychiatric patients or children, who are not mature enough to understand the consequences of such habits,” Dr Garg added.

Meanwhile, Dr Rajan Singla, Principal, Government Medical College, emphasised that parents and general public should be more vigilant about such behaviour of children.