$Unique_ID{PAR00161}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Medical Advice:  Swallowed Objects}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{
Editors of Consumer Guide
Chasnoff, Ira J}
$Subject{Swallowed Objects swallow swallows object choke chokes Choking
Inability breathe breathing difficulties cry crys crying gag gags Gagging
throat chest Pain swallowing Difficulty Abdominal pain Vomiting fever
esophagus laxative pin pins needle needles bone bones matchstick matchsticks
nail nails glass splinter splinters tonsil tonsils toothpick toothpicks X-ray
X-rays}
$Log{}

Your Child:  A Medical Guide


Swallowed Objects


     Emergency Quick Reference

     EMERGENCY SYMPTOMS
     - Choking
     - Inability to breathe or cry

     EMERGENCY TREATMENT
     - Call the police or paramedic squad.
     - See the section on Choking (in Your Child:  A Medical Guide).

     OTHER SYMPTOMS
     - Gagging
     - Pain in the throat or chest
     - Difficulty in swallowing
     - Abdominal pain
     - Vomiting

     HOME CARE
     - Ask your doctor whether immediate medical attention is necessary.
     - Examine the stools until the swallowed object has passed.  If it does
       not appear within one week, notify the doctor.

     PRECAUTIONS
     - An object lodged in the esophagus (the tube through which food passes
       on its way to the stomach) must be removed promptly (within hours) by
       a doctor.
     - Do not give the child a laxative in an effort to speed passage of a
       swallowed object.
     - No medication or other agent is available to speed up or make safer the
       passage of a swallowed object through the digestive tract.
     - Any object that has not left the body within one week should be
       reported to the doctor.
     - Keep small objects out of the reach of babies and toddlers.  Examine
       toys for parts that might be swallowed.


     Over 95 percent of the penny-, nickel-, and dime-sized foreign objects
that are swallowed by children cause no trouble and pass from the body in the
child's stool.  However, objects that are the size of a quarter or larger may
become lodged in the esophagus.  Sharp objects (pins, needles, bones,
matchsticks, nails, glass splinters) may lodge in the tonsils, throat, or
esophagus.  Objects longer than a toothpick may not be able to pass out of the
stomach and may have to be removed surgically.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

     Depending on where the object is lodged, it may cause choking or
inability to breathe or cry (see the section on Choking immediately), gagging,
pain, discomfort in the throat or chest, or difficulty in swallowing.  Once a
foreign object has passed into the stomach, it does not produce any symptoms
unless it obstructs or penetrates the digestive tract, in which case abdominal
pain, vomiting, and fever may develop.  If the child has swallowed a metal
object, it will be visible on an x-ray examination, but wooden, plastic, or
glass objects may not.  Usually, however, the diagnosis is suggested by the
circumstances and the symptoms that do appear.

     HOME CARE

     Ask your doctor whether immediate medical attention is necessary.  If the
swallowed object is small and smooth, it should pass out of the body without
treatment; if the object is long, sharp, or large, it may not.  Examine the
child's stools carefully for several days to be sure that the object has
passed from the body.  Each bowel movement should be passed through a sieve
until the object has been passed.  If the child has been trained, place a
basin fashioned of window screening in the toilet bowl.  Then, after the child
has passed a stool, wash it through the screening with hot water.

PRECAUTIONS

  -  An object lodged in the esophagus must be removed within hours by a
     doctor.
  -  No food, drink, or medication will speed up the passage of a foreign
     object through the body.
  -  If an object has not passed from the child's body within one week, see
     your doctor.  Try to bring a duplicate of the swallowed object to show
     your doctor.
  -  Do not give your child a laxative in an effort to speed passage of a
     swallowed object.
  -  As with choking, prevention is most important.  Examine all toys for
     loose eyes and other small parts that might be swallowed.  Keep other
     small objects out of the reach of babies and toddlers.

MEDICAL TREATMENT

     Your doctor will carefully inspect the throat and observe the way your
child swallows.  X-ray examinations of the throat, neck, chest, or abdomen may
be ordered.  If an object is wedged in the throat or esophagus, your doctor
will remove it with a surgical instrument.  If the object is in the stomach,
the doctor may watch the child's condition for three or more weeks before
trying to remove it surgically.  If the object is in the intestines and does
not pass within a week, the doctor may remove it surgically.

RELATED TOPIC:  Choking