Spoon swallower

SOME people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth - but one woman literally got one lodged firmly in her gullet.

The 26-year-old Sydney woman accidentally swallowed a teaspoon during a laughing attack while eating spaghetti.
She is understood to have gagged reflexively, but by then it was too late.

Doctors were flabbergasted by the accident when she arrived at Canterbury Hospital in Sydney's south-west.

An X-ray and gastroscopy revealed the 15cm implement stuck in her oesophagus at the top of her stomach.

Numerous medics examined the images and offered advice on how to remove the spoon, with most recommending surgery to cut it out.

But Dr Bernard Beldholm, an advanced trainee in general surgery, and Dr Alice Lee, a gastroenterologist, wanted to spare her the trauma of invasive surgery.

They eventually managed to remove it manually - albeit "with great difficulty".

The woman, who can't be named because of patient confidentiality, was placed under general anaesthetic.

In a delicate procedure, which took an hour and a half, they eased it out of her throat and mouth.