Child accidentally swallows arcade token, undergoes emergency surgery

A child in Malaysia underwent emergency surgery after accidentally swallowing an arcade token.

A child in Malaysia had to undergo emergency surgery after accidentally swallowing an arcade token, a doctor said.

The incident was described over a series of posts on X by Dr Mohd Shaiful Nizam, a head and neck surgeon at a hospital in Pahang state.

The doctor was on duty last Saturday (15 March) night when he had to quickly go to the operating theatre to remove a “foreign body” from a child’s oesophagus.

He initially thought it was a swallowed coin as an X-ray showed a coin-shaped object lodged in the child’s oesophagus.

Coins are also one of the objects most commonly swallowed by young children, he noted.

However, during the procedure, he was surprised to discover that the foreign object didn’t look like a coin.

Instead, it was an arcade token used to play games at shopping malls.

The realisation that it was an arcade token took him by surprise.

This was the first time he’d encountered a case like this, he said.

Thankfully, the surgery went smoothly, he added.

Dr Shaiful warned parents to closely watch their children, especially when they’re playing with small objects in their mouths.

One wrong move or a little carelessness, and the child could swallow the object like his patient did, he noted.

One of the biggest concerns for ENT specialists is if the swallowed foreign object enters the airway, which can lead to breathing difficulties, he said, adding:

“Let’s all stay vigilant and ensure our children’s toys and play areas are safe!”

output: A child in Malaysia had to undergo emergency surgery after accidentally swallowing an arcade token, a doctor said.

The incident was described over a series of posts on X by Dr Mohd Shaiful Nizam, a head and neck surgeon at a hospital in Pahang state.

The doctor was on duty last Saturday (15 March) night when he had to quickly go to the operating theatre to remove a “foreign body” from a child’s oesophagus.

He initially thought it was a swallowed coin as an X-ray showed a coin-shaped object lodged in the child’s oesophagus.

Coins are also one of the objects most commonly swallowed by young children, he noted.

However, during the procedure, he was surprised to discover that the foreign object didn’t look like a coin.

Instead, it was an arcade token used to play games at shopping malls.

The realisation that it was an arcade token took him by surprise.

This was the first time he’d encountered a case like this, he said.

Thankfully, the surgery went smoothly, he added.

Dr Shaiful warned parents to closely watch their children, especially when they’re playing with small objects in their mouths.

One wrong move or a little carelessness, and the child could swallow the object like his patient did, he noted.

One of the biggest concerns for ENT specialists is if the swallowed foreign object enters the airway, which can lead to breathing difficulties, he said, adding:

“Let’s all stay vigilant and ensure our children’s toys and play areas are safe!”

The doctor's post has since garnered over 1.1 million views.

It comes after a man in Taiwan ended up in hospital after getting a 20cm vibrator stuck inside his rectum during sex.

The 60-year-old, surnamed Chang, met a sex worker at a hotel in Taipei's Zhongshan District on Friday (10 May).

During their sexual encounter, he inserted the large vibrator into his rectum but couldn't get it out.

The woman tried to help him remove the vibrator but failed and contacted the hotel staff for assistance.

Hotel employees then called an ambulance to take Chang to the nearby Taipei City Hospital.

After examining Chang, doctors decided to perform surgery to remove the vibrator.

The procedure was successful and Chang has since recovered from his injuries.