Warning: contains graphic content
Dunedin doctors are warning parents about the risks of metal straws after a South Island toddler got one impaled through the roof of her mouth after falling from her bike.
The 21-month-old toddler was taken to a nearby rural emergency department after a retractable metal straw was embedded through the roof of her mouth after a fall from a push bike.
She was "intermittently distressed but consolable" three Dunedin-based specialists who treated her noted in the latest issue of the New Zealand Medical Journal.
The three doctors, Dr Jacob Arahill-Whitham, Dr Hitesh Taylor, and Dean Ruske, detailed the ordeal as part of a case study — the child, date and location were not identified in the article.
When the toddler presented at the regional emergency department, an X-ray was taken which showed the metal straw had penetrated through the girl’s nasal sinuses and could possibly have been sitting against the base of her skull.
The toddler was then transferred to the tertiary hospital via helicopter and she arrived 4.5 hours after the initial 111 call was made.
Her parents, and doctors accompanied her in case she needed emergency intubation.
When she arrived, a neurosurgery team was available on standby and she was whisked into the operating theatre straight away.
She was sedated and the metal straw was removed with no resistance, and in one attempt.
The hole in her palate the straw left was able to be closed, and the toddler was discharged the next say with a course of antibiotics.
There were "no further issues", the article said.
The authors, Dr Arahill-Whitham, Dr Taylor, and Dean Ruske said this case highlighted potential dangers of rigid drinking straws for young children.
"Rigid drinking straws will likely become increasingly common with the continued phasing out of single-use plastics."
They advised clinicians and parents should be made aware of the risks.
The authors said injuries in children to the soft and hard palate were likely under-reported and under-estimated due to incidents being unwitnessed or managed without medical intervention.
They said the most common impalement injuries in children was from falling with an object in their mouth.
Commonly reported objects include toothbrushes, toys, cooking utensils, stationary and sticks.
However, penetrating injuries to the hard palate were rare, but they did present risks to the orbit and brain.
They required surgery in only about 10% of cases, they said.
