Large Hair Tie Nearly Kills 80-Year-Old Woman With Dementia

An 80-year-old woman suffering from advanced dementia nearly died after a large hair tie became lodged in her airway, blocking over 80% of it. The incident occurred at Ziv Medical Center in Safed, where the patient, a resident of a Galilee village, is hospitalized in the geriatrics ward.

She began to choke and experience severe respiratory distress, with a significant drop in her blood oxygen levels. She was urgently transferred to the Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) and Head and Neck Surgery department.

Doctors Marwan Karam and Alaa Safia used an endoscope inserted through her nose to identify a large, purple foreign object, approximately 15 centimeters long, at the entrance to her esophagus. Part of the hair tie was pressing on her epiglottis, the flap that covers the windpipe during swallowing.

While one doctor monitored the object with the camera, the other inserted forceps through the patient's mouth and successfully removed the hair tie. "If we hadn't arrived in time, the patient would have died," the doctors stated, noting that her condition prevented her from alerting staff or family. Immediately after the removal, she resumed breathing normally.

The patient was returned to the geriatrics ward in stable condition. Prof. Salman Zarka, Director of Ziv Medical Center, praised the vigilance of the ward staff and the swift action of the ENT doctors, crediting them with saving the patient's life.