A pregnant woman in Nghe An almost lost her life after swallowing pig gallbladder to treat stomachache.
(Baonghean.vn) - Believing others, the pregnant woman's family asked for a fresh pig gall bladder to swallow to cure her stomachache. However, this person was later hospitalized in critical condition.
On March 7, the leader of Nghi Loc General Hospital said that doctors there had just saved the life of a rare patient.
Accordingly, on the evening of March 4, the hospital received a female patient in critical condition. The patient was a woman who had just given birth 2 weeks ago, residing in Nghi An commune, Vinh city. According to her family, because they believed the advice of others that swallowing pig bile after giving birth could cure stomachaches and improve digestion, the family went to get a fresh pig bile bag for her to swallow.
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Gallbladder inside patient's esophagus. Photo: BVCC |
However, immediately after swallowing the whole pig gallbladder, the woman immediately experienced symptoms such as dry heaving, difficulty breathing, choking, constant irritation, chest pain, and inability to eat or drink. After being taken to the emergency room, the doctors immediately consulted with the gastrointestinal endoscopy team and discovered a foreign object in the upper third of the patient's esophagus.
Doctors removed a fresh pig gallbladder, measuring about 3cm x 4cm. According to doctors, luckily for the patient, the foreign object had slipped down the esophagus. If it had remained in the airway, there would have been a high risk of death due to airway obstruction.
According to the reporter's research, this is a method that is still popular among the people for postpartum women with the hope that they will not have stomachaches, despite repeated warnings from medical experts about the dangers. According to doctors, all types of bile are more or less toxic. Pig bile is cold and bitter. After giving birth, the mother's body is severely damaged and is susceptible to a pathological condition that oriental medicine calls "cold deficiency". Therefore, women after giving birth should avoid catching a cold, because "cold evil" causes blood stagnation, which in turn causes hundreds of diseases. Pig bile can be used to strengthen and treat some digestive diseases, but because it is cold, postpartum women should not use pig bile alone but must combine it with some other oriental medicines.