A two-year-old child was saved in Lviv after living with a battery in his esophagus for three months

The story of two-year-old Sofiyka in Lviv unfolded as a long and dangerous ordeal that began in late autumn, when the child stopped swallowing normally and could only eat blended food. For several months, the pain in the throat and stomach did not go away, the condition worsened, and the real cause was discovered only after an additional examination, which showed a foreign body in the esophagus. By that time, the lithium battery had already managed to firmly fix itself in the tissues, which turned its removal into a complex and risky intervention.

As reported on the Facebook page of the St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital, the parents noticed the first alarming changes in late autumn, when their daughter lost the ability to swallow normally and switched to actually eating crushed food. After consulting doctors, no foreign body was found at the time, so the child was prescribed treatment for a possible infection, and an ibuprofen-based drug was given for abdominal pain.

For three months, doctors considered various diagnoses, but Sofiyka’s condition became increasingly serious. In the spring, vomiting, refusal to eat, coughing, and wheezing, which could be heard even from a distance, were added to the previous symptoms, and this change in the clinical picture forced the family to go to the hospital again and insist on a more extensive examination.

After the second visit, the child underwent an X-ray, which clearly showed a foreign object in the esophagus. During an endoscopic examination, doctors found that a round lithium battery with a diameter of 2.5 centimeters was stuck in the area of ​​​​the first physiological narrowing.

Since the foreign object had been in the esophagus for a long time, edema and hypergranulations of the mucous membrane had already formed around it, indicating long-term tissue damage. This picture meant that any intervention required special caution, because the risk of complications in this case was high.

Due to the complexity of the case, the child was referred to St. Nicholas Hospital in Lviv, where surgeons performed an urgent intervention. The biggest danger was that the battery was tightly stuck in the esophagus, so even precise manipulation could cause perforation, that is, a rupture of its wall.

During the operation, doctors acted with the utmost caution and used a laryngoscope and special instruments, with which the foreign object was safely removed. The medical facility reported that it was precisely because of the long stay of the battery in the esophagus that the removal required particularly careful actions, because the tissues were already damaged.

After the operation, Sofiyka’s condition stabilized, but doctors continue to closely monitor her recovery, since the risks of complications after such cases remain. The greatest concern among doctors is the possible narrowing of the esophagus at the site of injury, because such a complication occurs quite often after prolonged contact of the mucous membrane with the battery.

For now, the child can only eat blended food, and in a month he will have a repeat examination, during which doctors will assess how the mucous membrane is healing and whether any new complications have appeared.