A not so safe safety pin!

A 3-year-old child presented with symptoms of dysphagia and drooling of saliva for 3 hours. The child was stable and video laryngoscopic examination was normal. The x-ray of the neck revealed a radio opaque foreign body in the food passage, which was consistent with an open safety pin (Box). The safety pin was successfully removed by rigid oesophagoscopy under general anaesthesia. Foreign body ingestion is one of the most common emergencies encountered in children1 and should always be suspected in a child with sudden onset of unexplained dysphagia.2