Gastroenterologists at Mount Scopus and Ein Kerem Hospitals were recently called several times, at times at night, to perform emergency endoscopy on young women who have swollen sewing pins. They say that these are young women who use sewing pins and needles to attach head covering to their hair. Many of them use the pins for sewing or knitting, tend to hold them between their lips and accidentally swallow them.
"We urge them to avoid holding pins and needles with the mouth or teeth. Swallowing a needle might cause severe damage to the intestine, such as piercing it, which might lead to surgery", emphasized Prof. Michael Wilschanski, Director, Pediatric Gastroentrology Unit at Hadassah.