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Danger to life If the fish bone gets stuck in the throat
The fact that children take objects in the mouth and inadvertently swallow them is not uncommon. But it also happens to adults - more often than often thought. Doctors not only report swallowed fishbones or bones, but also cutlery, batteries or even bits of bite. Much of it can be dangerous.
When something inadvertently lands in the stomach
Much of what you put in your mouth ends up in the stomach unintentionally. This happens not only to children, but also to many adults. For some items, such as swallowed magnets, you should go to the doctor quickly. Other things like spoons, cheese pie or razor blades sound even more dangerous. Often even doctors are not exactly sure what to do in such cases: wait, remove the object endoscopically or even operate? It is clear: A swallowed button battery must be traded immediately, with a small marble not necessarily. But how do you remove a piece of steak, like a razor blade? According to a recent press release, scientists from all over Europe, headed by the Ulm University Department of Internal Medicine I, have published a guideline on the subject for the European Society of Gatrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE). She gives after evaluation of the available international literature diagnostic and treatment recommendations.
Not only children, but also adults often inadvertently swallow items. Some things are rather harmless, others can be very dangerous. (Image: Enlightened Media / fotolia.com) Some people deliberately swallow things
Not only children, including adults, especially the elderly, swallow things that cause chest pain, among other things. Scientists estimate that it affects around 13 people per 100,000 people per year. "Often parts of the food or inappropriate ingredients of the food are swallowed, for example, too much steak from the grill or herringbone. But we also have patients who swallow a piece of broken glass or, together with cheese and grapes, the sharp plastic pieker ", reports Prof. Dr. med. Alexander Meining, Head of Endoscopy at the Ulm University Department of Internal Medicine I, who is in charge of the guideline in a team with his colleague from Ulm. Michael Birk and scientists from all over Europe.
"A special case is people with mental illnesses who deliberately swallow things, from long ice cream spoons to patches or razor blades," says Meining. The new guideline not only provides recommendations on the appropriate diagnostic procedure, but also on the urgency and the various recovery options.
For swallowed batteries or magnets immediately to the doctor
"If someone swallows a button battery, the doctor must act immediately, because by electrical or chemical reactions, the gastric or intestinal mucous membranes can be damaged. Magnets must also be removed immediately because they can, for example, stick together and injure two intestinal loops, "explains Meining. Sharp and large items must also be located and removed depending on the location. There are special endoscopic instruments with different gripping arms, with slings or cups to protect the surrounding tissue. If a harmless object is still sitting in front of the stomach, it can sometimes be pushed into the stomach. However, an item must be removed in an extreme case by surgery.
"It is also important to know when you do not have to do anything, but only observe, usually with smaller blunt objects," says Professor Meining. If you have swallowed something inedible, you should if possible bring an identical item, for example, a cheese pieker, to the doctor. This facilitates diagnosis and therapy.
Pen in the stomach for 25 years
"We have already received many positive feedback from colleagues on the guideline, which has now been published in the online edition of the journal Endoscopy. Every doctor can suddenly be confronted with such a case and must then act quickly smart, here can the guideline help, "said Professor Meining. The Chief Medical Director of the University Hospital Ulm, Prof. dr. Udo X. Kaisers, adds: "Preparing international scientific and clinical findings for the day-to-day work of physicians is an important task of university medicine, which has been thoroughly and practically implemented." In 2011, one of the most unusual cases of a swallowed object been reported. At that time doctors reported in the journal "British Medical Journal Case Reports" about a Briton who swallowed a felt-tip pen in 1986. This landed in the stomach and stayed there for 25 years. When doctors took him out of the patient in 2011, they found that the pen was still in his stomach even after a quarter of a century. (Ad)