This post was written by Dr. Brenda O'Hara, Family Medicine, Parkview Employer Solutions. In this post, she summarizes an article from the American Family Physician Journal on Foreign Body Ingestion in Children.
If you want to see panic on the face of a parent, tell them you think their three-year-old swallowed a coin, button, LEGO®, bottle cap or any other small object that they can get their hands on. Luckily, research shows that over 60% of foreign bodies in children will pass through the GI tract spontaneously.
Common threats
- Coins – Remain the No. 1 swallowed material and can almost always be passed safely through the digestive system.
- Button batteries – Button batteries are found in some toys, light up greeting cards, car key fobs and finders, fitness trackers, watches and hearing aids. Even used batteries may retain enough charge to injure a child.
- Small magnets – Can be dangerous due to their property to adhere to other magnets or metallic objects and cause blockage.
What to do if your child ingests something
Emergency Departments are well versed in protocol for finding ingested objects, so parents and grandparents should not hesitate to bring a child in if there is any doubt as to whether they may have swallowed something.
Immediate X-ray can usually locate the object, with imaging of the neck, chest and abdomen. This can also help determine the likelihood of it passing. X-rays with magnification have even been used to estimate the strength and manufacturer of ingested batteries. There is a National Battery Ingestion Hotline that is used by healthcare providers to aid in their treatment decisions.
As far as first aid for a button battery ingestion, studies have shown that giving a child two teaspoons of honey every 10 minutes during the interval between discovery and arriving to the ER can provide a protective coating that limits the damage to the soft tissue in contact with the electrical charge of the battery.
Hopefully, no readers of this summary will need the information, but the proliferation in the use of button batteries in many objects around the house, and the harm they can cause to children if swallowed makes being prepared for this kind of accident important.
Supporting Employee Health
An employer clinic provides convenient, high-quality healthcare designed specifically for employees and their families. These clinics offer services such as preventive care, treatment for minor illnesses and injuries, chronic disease management, wellness coaching, and health screenings, all with the goal of improving employee health, reducing healthcare costs, and increasing access to care.
If your organization is interested in learning how an employer clinic can support your workforce, please visit our webpage or reach out to our Parkview Employer Solutions team at ParkviewEmployersSolutions@parkview.com.
