Abstract

BERNI CLEBSCH, Rodrigo Arturo; TABOADA WAGENER, Daniel Wilfrido; ESPINOLA DE CANATA, Miriam  and  ACUNA APPLEYARD, Vicente. Extraction of a Foreign Body by Vaginoscopy in a 5-year Old Girl. Pediatr. (Asunción) [online]. 2012, vol.39, n.1, pp.43-45. ISSN 1683-9803.

We report the case of the extraction of foreign body from the vagina of a 5-year-old girl at the central hospital of the Social Insurance Institute (IPS) of Paraguay. Pelvic examination is an essential part of the health assessment of women, but in young patients, or when the hymen is intact, it constitutes a barrier, the rupture of which could involve emotional, values-based, or physical damage to the patient and therefore results in an incomplete examination in certain circumstances. Vaginoscopy is a useful diagnostic tool that involves little risk and preserves the hymen, for which reason it may be more acceptable to parents and be applied in many situations. We present the case of a female patient, aged 5-years, who presented due to her parents suspicion of a foreign body in the vagina (a watch battery). Gynecological examination showed a perforated hymen with a hymeneal orifice of a possibly 4-5 mm diameter, making pelvic examination impossible without damage to the hymen. Vaginoscopy was done on the patient under anesthesia using a continuous-flow hysteroscope. Hysteroscopy forceps under direct vision were used to remove the reported foreign object. The successful extraction of the foreign body and assessment of the lesions caused suggest that vaginoscopy seems to be a safe method for diagnosis of pathology's of the lower genital tract in girls.

Keywords : Foreign body; vaginoscopy; lithium battery.

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