Quick to the doctor with swallowed magnets

When objects are inadvertently swallowed

08/18/2013

Adults swallow a slice of meat just now during the barbecue season. Children, on the other hand, put a lot into their mouths, and many things end up inadvertently in the stomach. Not only is this unpleasant, it can also be very dangerous.

Goldring swallowed to avoid payment
A few months ago, 52-year-old Ronald Perley had made headlines in New Hampshire after swallowing a 14-carat gold ring at a store to avoid payment. On the basis of an x-ray, he was then unmasked. Much more often, however, items are inadvertently swallowed. Felix Gundling of the German Society for Digestive and Metabolic Diseases: „Especially in the barbecue season, when people eat a lot of meat, drink alcohol and talk a lot, someone often chokes on them. "

Meat chops and dentures
Gundling, chief physician for gastroenterology at the Klinikum Bogenhausen in Munich, Germany, counted between 2008 and 2010 with their colleagues, what and how much they have extracted from their patients. It was in more than 65 percent meat chunks. With each eight percent dentures and tablets were much rarer. „Swallowed parts are more likely to be rare in the emergency department, "says Gundling, „either they are too large to be swallowed at all, or they are often so small that they easily pass through the gastrointestinal tract. "Only two of the 38 patients had swallowed the infamous fishbone, the doctors said „Journal of Gastroenterology.“

Children take a lot in the mouth
Children, on the other hand, swallow far more uncommon things, especially in the first years of life. Burkhard Rodeck, board member of the German Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ) and chief physician of the Christian Children's Hospital Osnabrück explains: „Children get to know their surroundings by understanding them in the truest sense of the word. Almost every item is not only taken in the hand, but also in the mouth. "The expert therefore advises to clear away items that could be swallowed with a simple rule: „Dangerous is everything that fits through a toilet roll. "

Children often swallow coins
The most frequently swallowed items by children include coins. Such swallowed foreign bodies can lead to chest pain. Smaller coins could easily pass through the gastrointestinal tract, but larger ones stick to one of the three esophagus bottlenecks. „Rodeck warns, "If it comes to that, then it is advisable to see a doctor quickly, because a stuck foreign body can be dangerous, such as the risk of serious damage to the wall of the esophagus or even a breakthrough with inflammation of the chest.

Movable plastic tube in the esophagus
Doctors can help with a gastroscopy, among other things. It can be checked by a, introduced into the esophagus movable plastic tube on the one hand with a mini camera possible injuries and on the other hand pliers or slings for salvage the foreign body. In some cases, however, swallowing can not be removed with this method. So magnetic toys have become an increasing problem in recent years.

Danger from magnetic toys
According to a study by the US-based Seattle Children's Hospital, such accidents have quintupled from 2002 to 2011, as the team around emergency physician Julie Brown in the journal „Annals of Emergency Medicine“ reported. Especially dangerous is when different magnetic particles in the intestine attract each other. In Oregon, USA, a three-year-old girl was diagnosed with 37 globular magnets in the gut by an X-ray. In part, the stomach and intestinal wall were already perforated as a result of the pressure and only an immediate operation saved the girl's life.

Batteries can cause burns
Infants should therefore be denied unattended access to magnets. The same applies to batteries, because if they are swallowed, they are particularly damaging to the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract. „Batteries can become electrically discharged on the mucous membranes, resulting in acid burns. "For other swallowed objects, such as small coins, one can wait until they are stuck in one of the three narrow spaces of the esophagus that the things that pass through the esophagus without any problems usually do not cause any further problems when passing through the intestine, but you should not rely blindly on it, but it should be carefully checked whether the foreign body also slips out of the body.

Pen 25 years in the stomach
If one waives a corresponding control, one could endure it, like a Briton who swallowed a felt-tip pen in 1986. This landed in the stomach and stayed there for 25 years. Doctors from the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital Foundation Trust did not remove the pen from the patient until 2011. The doctors presented in the journal „British Medical Journal Case Reports“ with amazement that the pen was still writing in the stomach even after a quarter of a century. (Ad)

Picture credits: Beßler / Havlena