A boy had to be operated after a chopstick lodged in his nostril and infected his brain.
Hanghang, about 2 years old, lived with his parents in a northeastern city in China. During the last days of January this year, he fell down while eating his meals, landing on the chopstick.
His parents then immediately attended to the accident and pulled the stick out. They also brought the boy to the local hospital for further tests and for wound cleaning. However, they didn't realize that the stick had broken into two, and more than 2 inches of it had remained in his nose, more so since the attending physician didn't request for any X-ray.
Ten days after, the boy got sick with the parents complaining how he seemed to be tired than usual and drowsy. He was also vomiting. Upon examination, the doctors discovered the remaining portion of the stick now infecting the brain. A surgery therefore had to be performed immediately.
The doctor had successfully removed the remaining stick, and fortunately, it affected the section of the brain that doesn't have any critical role to body functions. This may also explain why the boy was able to thrive since the accident without showing any severe symptoms other than the drowsiness and mental fatigue. The child stayed in the hospital a few more days after the operation so the doctors could continue treating the infection.
Accidents of chopsticks on children are not uncommon. Last June 2014, Daily Mail reported the case of Li Kaiyi. He was playing with his friends when he suddenly tripped and landed on a chopstick. It went all the way to his mouth and into his brain that it had to be removed surgically. At least 2cm of the stick went into his brain tissues but didn't go deep enough to damage any of the nerves.