Christmas Decoration on Cake Pierces French Woman's Abdomen

For many, Christmas is a great holiday to share with loved ones and experience some much needed relaxation time. However, for a 72-year-old French woman who swallowed a Christmas cake decoration, the holiday season may have been a bit less merry.

A case report shows that when the woman unknowingly swallowed the decoration, she actually punctured part of her small intestine.

Shortly after, she went to the hospital due to pain around the belly button that she'd been experiencing for the last three days. The report notes that the woman had vomited at least once and had a fever of 100 °C. She also experienced tenderness on the right side of her abdomen, according to the study authors.

The Daily Mail notes that CT scans revealed the foreign object in the top part of the intestine. It was revealed as a 2cm-long axe-shaped foreign object.

Fortunately, doctors at Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris were able to remove the Christmas item without many problems. However, the woman was not released from the hospital till 10 days later and required sutures to close perforation of the wound. The Christmas culprit responsible for this health issue had allegedly been a tiny axe on a cake she'd eaten seven days earlier.

More information regarding the study can be found via the New England Journal of Medicine.