This will kill you.
I just got back from grand rounds. Let’s be honest, there’s only so much I can learn from these talks, since I don’t know the underlying medicine behind them, but I go all the same. If nothing else, it’s interesting to see a part of medicine that is otherwise reserved for medical students, residents, and attendings.
And today’s lecture brings me my first “Did You Know?” it comes from the discussion of foreign bodies in the airway.
Did you know? Pen caps have small holes at their end to prevent choking.
Apparently, the old design had a solid end, and was notorious for causing airway obstructions once children (or less commonly adults) ingested them. The worst kinds were the pointy ones, which acted just like fish hooks do: easy to get in, hard and damaging to get out.
Speaking of fish hooks, we saw a picture of a patient who had swallowed a fishing hook and sinker, completely attached to the fishing line. Good lord.
