Swallowed Foreign Bodies in Children: Diagnosis and Methods of treatment

BackgroundsChildren continue to swallow foreign bodies, some of which are bizarre and can be life threatening but coins continue to be the most common.This review presents our experience with 85 swallowed foreign bodies outlining aspects of diagnosis and management. Patients and MethodsThe medical records of all children with the diagnosis of swallowed foreign body were retrospectively reviewed for age at diagnosis, type of swallowed foreign body, diagnosis and management. ResultsDuring a 12-year period, from June 2009-July 2020, a total of 85 children with swallowed foreign bodies were treated.Their age ranged from 8 months to 13 years (mean 5.8 years).There were 55 males and 30 females.All were healthy except two who had repair of esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula.A variety of foreign bodies were swallowed.This included button batteries in 3 and swallowed magnets in 8 but coins were the commonest swallowed objects.All were managed conservatively except those with esophageal foreign bodies where a policy of emergency removal was adopted.Five required surgical removal including one in the esophagus and 4 required laparotomies to remove complicated swallowed foreign bodies.The 8 swallowed magnets were removed endoscopically in 2, surgically in 2 and laparoscopically in 4. ConclusionsA variety of objects can be swallowed by children but coins continue to be the commonest.A policy of wait and follow-up is safe to treat the majority of swallowed foreign bodies except esophageal foreign bodies, and multiple magnets.Esophageal foreign bodies should be removed to avoid the risk of perforation.Multiple swallowed magnets require surgical removal and this can also be done laparoscopically.