Insidious Threat of Children: Esophageal Foreign Body Ingestion

Objective: Foreign body ingestion commonly occurs in children. Objects that may not easily pass the esophagus cause severe complications, such as impaction, perforation, and obstruction. Different methods are used for their removal. We aimed retrospectively to analyze the cases in which we performed emergent esophagoscopy. Material and Methods: Between 2002 and 2013, 732 children with suspicion of foreign body ingestion were studied. Of them, 720 underwent emergency intervention. Objects located at the first narrowing of the esophagus were removed under sedation, and the remaining objects were taken out under general anesthesia with the aid of rigid esophagoscopy. Results: The mean age of the children was 3.9 years (range 1 month and 16 years). Coins in 648 cases and a variety of objects, opaque and non-opaque, were removed under direct vision. Urgent intervention was carried out in 6 cases with dyspnea, in 2 delayed cases, and in 3 patients with esophageal perforation. Successful removal was performed in 69 patients (95.8%). Perforation occurred in 3 cases. Removal was succeeded within surgery in 2 cases (2.7%). One patient died. Conclusion: A delay in esophageal body ingestion increases the complication rate. Round batteries and objects that are non-oval, long, large, and spiky should be dealt with great attention. (JAEM 2014; 13: 159-61)