Battery Ingestion
- Battery Ingestion Overview
- Battery Ingestion Causes
- Battery Ingestion Symptoms
- When to Seek Medical Care
- Exams and Tests
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Battery Ingestion Overview
In recent years, our electronic toys and gadgets have become increasingly miniaturized. Their power requirements are being met by a new generation of compact, high-performance batteries. These disk batteries are small, pill- or coin-shaped devices that contain heavy metals such as zinc, mercury, silver, nickel, cadmium, and lithium. They also contain concentrated solutions of caustic electrolytes, usually potassium or sodium hydroxide. Their compact size and harmless appearance hide their true danger.
The danger comes when children (and sometimes adults) knowingly or mistakenly put these tiny batteries in their mouths and swallow them.
Most swallowed batteries cause no problem (89.9% of the time).
- Batteries lodged in the esophagus (the food pipe between mouth and stomach) must be removed immediately. They cause damage by their pressure against the wall of the esophagus, from leakage of caustic alkali, and the electrical current they generate. Injury can occur in as short a time as 1 hour. Full-thickness burns can occur in 4 hours. Batteries passing through the esophagus usually pass uneventfully through the entire digestive tract.
Next: Battery Ingestion Causes »
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Battery Ingestion
Swallowed Object Overview
Button batteries, pins, fishbones, balloons-all these items and more are swallowed by adults and children by accident or on purpose.
Parents of infants and toddlers are most likely to seek medical attention for a child. Children in this age group are curious and often eat inedible materials such as dirt and coins and also have trouble swallowing some common foods.
Older children and adults may swallow objects to seek attention or may have trouble with the anatomy of their esophagus leading to a blockage after eating a normal meal.
- A swallowed object that blocks the airway is a true medical emergency. If the person is not breathing, you must call 911 for this medical emergency immediately.
- Most swallowed objects pass through the body and out in a bowel movement without any medical intervention.
Swallowed Object Causes
Read What Your Physician is Reading on eMedicine
Disk Battery Ingestion »
Disk batteries are small, coin-shaped batteries used in watches, calculators, and hearing aids.
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