Dangers of swallowing gum: A five-year-old boy required emergency surgery after his intestines became blocked

There’s a good reason moms have always warned us against swallowing gum because it could stay in our bodies “forever.”

A boy in Ohio swallowed nearly 40 pieces of the stuff and had to have emergency surgery. This clarifies the point.

The child developed cramps and diarrhea as the gums in his stomach started to clog and his digestive system began to clog. During the emergency surgery, the lump of gum had to be pulled out of his throat again.

He suffered no long-term effects, but doctors said he was lucky the gums didn’t clog his intestines, which can be fatal because it could cause the walls of the intestine to rupture and the contents to leak out into the body.

The boy, whose name was not released, had a large mass of gum – medically known as a gum bezoar – in his stomach (pictured)

Doctors removed it by sticking a metal tube down his throat and gradually scooping the pieces back up through his mouth

The doctors, led by Dr. Chizite Iheonunekwu of the Cleveland Clinic revealed the case in the medical publication JEM Reports.

They said children who come to the hospital with stomach pains and diarrhea should be screened for “bezoars,” the term for swallowed foreign material.

On the day of the accident, the patient’s mother said the child ate an entire can of sugar-free gum.

She immediately called the local poison control center, who advised her to go to the emergency room if her son had stomach problems.

Hours later, he developed stomach pains and began suffering from diarrhea, prompting a trip to the emergency room.

Scans revealed the patient had a large mass — medically called a bezoar — in his stomach, taking up about 25 percent of the space.

After discussing options, doctors opted for removal through multiple “passages” down the esophagus or esophagus.

An esophagoscope, a hollow metal tube, was inserted down the throat.

Then other devices like tweezers are inserted into the tube and used to pull out parts of the object to be removed.

These are then transported back up through the throat.

Doctors said the procedure required “multiple” gum extractions.

They didn’t say if the child was awake, although he was likely sedated for the procedure.

During this time, the youth was asked to lie on his back and then put the tube down his throat.

Doctors said the boy complained of a sore throat the next day, which was attributed to the “numerous rounds” to remove the gums.

He was given pain medication and discharged home.

The youngster has no long-term health consequences.

Doctors do not recommend swallowing gum, although they say there is no harm if gum is accidentally swallowed.

They say it generally travels through the digestive system unscathed before being excreted in the feces.

But dr Elizabeth Rajan, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic, said, “On very rare occasions, large amounts of ingested chewing gum combined with constipation have resulted in intestinal obstruction in children.”

“For this reason, frequent gum chewing should be discouraged, especially in children.”

The body cannot digest chewing gum because it is made of synthetic polymers and latex, which do not break down easily when swallowed.

If someone swallows too much gum, it can clump together and form a mass that blocks the intestines.