A major medical operation at a Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital saved the life of a nine-year-old boy after doctors removed dozens of sewing needles and fragments of broken plastic pens from his stomach and intestines.
The child, identified as Samuel Akamumpa, underwent two separate surgeries that lasted a combined eight hours after health workers discovered foreign objects lodged in different parts of his digestive system.
According to hospital officials, the operation involved a team of six specialists, including pediatric surgeons, theatre nurses, and an anesthetist. The first procedure lasted six hours, while a second operation conducted two days later took another two hours.
Doctors revealed that a total of 50 sewing needles were extracted from the child’s body, alongside several crushed pieces of plastic pen material. Some of the needles still had threads attached to them.
Dr. Deus Twesigye, who led the surgical team, explained that the objects were found scattered throughout the abdomen, with some embedded in the stomach, others trapped in the small intestines, and a few located closer to the rectum. Surgeons reportedly relied on magnets during the delicate procedure to help locate and remove the metallic objects.
Medical examinations carried out before surgery included an ultrasound scan and X-ray, which confirmed the presence of multiple foreign materials in the child’s abdomen. The boy had reportedly suffered severe abdominal pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, and dark stool for nearly eight months before receiving specialized treatment.
Doctors warned that the condition could have turned fatal had treatment been delayed further. They explained that the sharp objects risked piercing the intestines, which could have caused stool leakage into the abdomen, leading to life-threatening infections, swelling, breathing complications, and organ failure.
Hospital management says the child is now receiving post-operative care, while counselors, psychiatrists, social workers, and pediatric specialists have been assigned to support both the boy and his family through recovery.
Meanwhile, a 45-year-old woman was arrested and charged with aggravated torture and attempted murder after allegations emerged that she forced the child to swallow the needles and plastic materials. She appeared before a magistrate’s court and was remanded after denying the charges.
The child had initially been taken for imaging scans at private medical facilities before being referred to the regional referral hospital for emergency surgery after metallic objects were detected inside his body.
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