Team's positive practice praise

A spokesman for the hospital’s communications team said: “Invasive surgery was avoided, due to the aptitude of the team whose collective ability shone through when a female patient was admitted via the emergency department to the surgical ward.

“She came with a history of swallowing items; the latest happened to be a metal, telescopic, radio aerial which she had broken off from an FM radio, followed by a biro pen. She complained of some mild abdominal discomfort and x-rays revealed the metal radio aerial in the stomach as well as the metal tip of the pen.”

Mr Muhammad Shiwani, consultant general and laparoscopic surgeon, added: “To maximise our chances of successful and safe removal, we took a multidisciplinary approach to managing this case.

“We involved team members from all relevant specialties when in the planning stage and had a clear plan in place to manage the case, ultimately progressing to major surgical procedure if required.

“Once again we have managed with our well honed endoscopy techniques which, in this case, have avoided the requirement for a big operation.”