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Doctor recounts the out of the ordinary X-Rays he has seen during his career

FOX 10 Phoenix
Danielle Miller's Reports
Published May 17, 2019 9:41 PM MST
Published May 17, 2019 9:41 PM MST
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PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- Normally, X-Rays reveal broken bones or fluid in the lungs, but occasionally, they show something a little more strange, whether it's a freak accident or a child swallowing something.

At Banner Thunderbird Medical Center, hundreds of X-Rays are taken and interpreted every day. While some are pretty standard, others have some very interesting stories behind them. Banner Thunderbird is a level one trauma center, meaning some of the X-Rays coming across the desk of pediatric radiologist Dr. Raul Galvez are a bit shocking.

"Those accidents we usually see in the rural to semi-rural areas where there's a lot of construction, there's accidental amputations of a limb of a hand. We saw that nail going through the extremity. We see sometimes staples going through, rebar going through the head or the eyes or chest."

Dr. Galvez has seen his fair share of nails through the hand, severe broken bones, and other cringe-worthy images, but one of the most common things he sees are the X-Rays of children who've swallowed things other than their food. Magnets and button batteries top the list of things swallowed, and these things can be the most dangerous.

"Magnets are very dangerous because they can get lodged in the gut or the bowel, and they can stay fixed in that position and they can cut blood supply to that area where they are attached, and they can cause severe injuries requiring surgery," said Dr. Galvez. "Button batteries are very dangerous, because one of the sides of the battery creates a chemical reaction with the saliva that we swallow, and it creates a burning of the lining of the gut. Wherever it ends up in the mouth, in the throat, in the stomach and the damages are severe that can cause a burn."

Other things topping the list are coins and soda tabs.

"Soda tabs, the detachable tabs. There's a call by numerous medical societies to remove those from the cans to create another mechanism, because the number of soda can tabs being swallowed are increasing because they're small and easy to put into your mouth," said Dr. Galvez.

Galvez has also seen legos, even screws in the stomachs of the tiniest of patients. Whether it's painfully strange or run of the mill, it's just another day at the office for Dr. Galvez. Dr. Galvez said most of the worst X-Rays come from patients that have been involved in a car crash.