Foreign Body Ingestion: Report of Two Cases

Foreign body ingestion are commonly seen in children and mentally handicapped adults. Most foreign bodies pass through G.I tract without any problem. Metallic objects except aluminium, most animal bones except fish bones and glass foreign bodies are opaque on radiographs, whereas plastic and wooden foreign bodies are not opaque. Foreign body can simulate the appearance of medical device. It is important that all ultrasound, CT, nuclear medicine and MR images be interpreted in light of radiographs of the same region.

Oesophageal foreign bodies require prompt diagnosis and treatment. Patients who have symptoms of complete oesophageal occlusion and those who have ingested button batteries need urgent treatment. Main symptoms due to oesophageal foreign body are dysphagia, acute onset of pain, excessive salivation and choking. In case of suspected foreign body ingestion in children, symptoms are more notable during swallowing. Younger children may drool, vomit, refuse food or gag. Hematemesis and Cough are other symptoms.

Children most commonly ingest metal coins throughout the world. Hand Held Metal Detector (HHMD) has been found to be radiation free, cost effective and an accurate method in diagnosing and localizing coins ingested by children.

Besides history and physical examination, radiology is a very important diagnostic tool in diagnosing and localizing ingested foreign body. Plain radiographs of cervical and chest region done in posteroanterior and lateral views help to identify foreign body and its location. Barium swallow examination is done in case of negative radiographs.

Two cases of foreign body ingestion has been reported in this article.

Case 1 is an adult male and case 2 a six year old female child. Both of them developed sudden chest pain, dysphagia, excessive salivation and choking after eating fruits. Diagnosis of foreign body oesophagus was made on barium studies and fruit seed was removed on endoscopy in both of them.

Aims of this article are to:-

Outline the evaluation of a patient who has ingested a foreign body.

Highlights various modalities for diagnosis of ingested foreign body.