A mother in northeastern Ethiopia pulled the socks off her 23-day-old son and found one toe swollen, dusky, and grooved. There was no injury, no insect bite, and nothing in his history to explain it. The cause was a single strand of hair, wound tightly enough around his fourth toe to choke off the blood supply.
The case was reported in June in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports by clinicians at Woldia Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. The previously healthy infant had been brought to the emergency department for excessive, inconsolable crying.
