Doctors in Saudi Arabia use olive oil to treat child's swallowed coin

Physicians at King Saud Medical City in Riyadh successfully used olive oil to help a 6-year-old boy pass a coin stuck in his lower esophagus. The case, published in Frontiers in Pediatrics, highlights the importance of X-ray analysis in distinguishing between a coin and a more dangerous button battery.

Medical staff identified the object as a coin because the X-rays lacked the ‘double rim sign’ or ‘halo’ appearance characteristic of button batteries. After discussing alternatives such as endoscopic removal with the parents, the medical team administered olive oil at a dose of 1 milliliter per kilogram of body weight, followed by water.

Within an hour, follow-up X-rays showed the coin had moved to the junction of the small and large intestines. The boy passed the object naturally within 24 hours. The authors noted that while this approach was successful, patient selection must strictly follow established foreign-body guidelines.