Child swallowed small battery: If Your Child Swallows a Button Battery, It’s an Emergency | University of Utah Health

06.09.202323.06.2023 by alexxlab

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If Your Child Swallows a Button Battery, It’s an Emergency | University of Utah Health

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In the past few weeks, I’ve had three of my patients seen in the ER and taken to surgery for swallowing batteries. While one was luckily a false alarm, the other two ended up going to the operating room, and one had serious complications.

Increase of Button Battery Ingestion in Children

Button battery ingestion is becoming a big problem not only because of how frequently it is happening, but the complications can be lifelong. Since 2009, the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that there are about 6,000 annual emergency room visits across the United States just due to battery button ingestion.

Button Battery Ingestion Can Cause Lifelong Complications

Button batteries are especially a problem because they are small and easy for kids to swallow, but then they get stuck in the esophagus or the stomach. The lithium in the batteries continues to have a strong current even after you take them out of the toys or whatever they were used in. And once the battery comes in contact with saliva, there is a chemical reaction that can burn holes in the digestive system. It can cause a severe amount of damage in as little as two hours. Kids who swallow button batteries often present like kids who swallow coins. They have breathing problems with coughing and drooling, or they can vomit or refuse to eat and then gag when they try to eat or drink, and they’ll say their chest hurts when they swallow.

What to Do if Your Child Swallows a Button Battery

Most of the time, parents won’t see their kid actually swallow the button battery. If you think your child may have swallowed a button battery, you need to act quickly. While you may think that your child just should come to the doctor or an urgent care, you really should take them directly to the closest children’s emergency room.

There are new guidelines from the National Poison Center about what to do if your child swallows a button battery, and it may sound a little strange, but parents should give their child honey immediately while they head to the hospital. Now, of course, you shouldn’t do this if your child is under twelve months old. But, hopefully, you don’t have any button batteries in reach of a baby. The reason for giving honey after swallowing a button battery is that it can reduce esophageal injury in that short critical time window between when a child swallows the battery and when it is removed by a surgeon.

If a button battery is found on an X-ray of your child’s neck, chest, or abdomen, they will need to be taken straight to the operating room. And if they are being seen outside of the ER, that may waste precious time and more damage can be caused by the battery.

Do not make your child vomit and don’t allow them to eat or drink. That can cause more damage and delay operating room time. If your child needs surgery, the surgeon will be able to discuss your child’s case specifically and what the treatment plan is. Some kids only need an overnight observation in the hospital after surgery. Other kids will go home with a feeding tube inserted into their nose and they will need to have nothing in their esophagus for a few weeks. That means nothing by mouth. Often, the surgeon won’t be able to tell you the complete plan until they do the endoscopy to look at the damage in the esophagus and the stomach.

Preventing Accidental Button Battery Ingestion in Children

Kids put things they’re not supposed to in their mouth all the time. And while it’s really hard to keep your kids from swallowing objects they already have in their mouths, because they will often swallow as you run towards them and scream “no,” it’s important to childproof as much as you can, when you have a little one, to make sure there’s nothing they could put in their mouths that they’re not supposed to in the first place. Make sure toys and stuffed animals don’t have tiny buttons that can be pulled off. Make sure all battery components are secured. You can even consider putting like duct tape over the battery compartment to ensure another level of safety. And get down on the floor and look at everything from your child’s point of view to see what you’re missing because it’s not always easy, but taking a little extra time to secure any potential choking hazards could make a huge difference.

Finally, if you think your child has swallowed something, call Poison Control right away. Many parents call the on-call pediatrician, but we will either tell you to take your child to the emergency room or call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 because they will have better information and advice for you. Don’t waste time waiting, call Poison Control first.

What Happens if You Swallow a Battery?

Beware, Tiny Batteries Can Cause Big Injury for Kids

If your child accidentally swallows a battery — of any size — it likely warrants a trip to the emergency room. Here’s what parents need to know.

September 28, 2016
7:00 AM

Author |
Kevin Joy

Used to power remote controls, watches, musical greeting cards, hearing aids and even many toys, those ubiquitous — and seemingly benign — lithium batteries can be toxic in tiny hands.

SEE ALSO: 10 Ways to Stop a Bloody Nose

That’s because the button-sized devices, if swallowed, could become lodged in the esophagus and cause a potentially dangerous injury due to a chemical reaction between the esophagus lining and the battery’s remaining current.

The result: a caustic burn whose severity can escalate just minutes after a battery enters the body.

“The longer you leave it in the esophagus, the more damage there is,” says Meghan Arnold, M.D., a pediatric surgeon at University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. “A (swallowed) coin can wait until the morning to come out; a button battery requires action the moment you find out about it.”

Doctors typically use an endoscope and a grasper tool to carefully remove the item while the patient is under general anesthesia. Depending on the situation, the procedure could be performed by a pediatric surgeon, gastroenterologist or otolaryngologist. Most cases require follow-up care and examination after discharge to ensure healing.

The hazards of such batteries — prevalent enough that a Button Battery Task Force was formed to address the problem — often go unnoticed by parents who arrive at the hospital in shock that the household item could inflict so much harm.

“The general population is not aware of how dangerous these batteries are,” says George Zacur, M.D., a Mott pediatric gastroenterologist who co-authored a 2015 report citing that button batteries have become deadlier because of an increased diameter and a change to lithium cells.

He recalls a recent case in which a young child swallowed an old battery from a garage door opener after the parents changed it out.

Although little time had passed before arriving at the hospital, resulting throat damage was substantial.

Growing concern

Physicians at Mott handle about five to 10 button battery ingestions each year, says Zacur, who hasn’t seen a noticeable rise in related admissions but noted the growing inclusion of the batteries in everyday products has “made them more of a problem.”

SEE ALSO: Hands-Only CPR: The Michigan Way

Nationwide, more than 3,500 such incidents are reported to poison control centers annually in the United States, according to the task force, which maintains that the actual number of episodes is likely higher.

The task force also reports that cases involving serious injury or death quadrupled between 2006 and 2010 compared to the five years prior.

At UMHS, most of the battery ingestion patients are 5 years of age or younger.

“Kids are inquisitive; like most things they encounter, they’ll put (batteries) in their mouths,” says Arnold. “They are small, they’re shiny.”

Kids are inquisitive; like most things they encounter, they’ll put (batteries) in their mouths.
Meghan Arnold, M.D.

Most dangerous, the task force notes, are button batteries that measure 20 millimeters in width — about the size of a nickel — and are more prone to get caught in a child’s esophagus.

Less worrisome are smaller batteries that end up in the stomach where they’ll probably pass in a bowel movement. A chest X-ray can help determine an appropriate course of action.

Avoiding injury

Families should take proactive steps to keep all batteries, no matter the size, out of reach.

That means only buying toys that have battery pockets or pouches secured with a screw. Store remote controls, hearing aids and other such items on higher shelves or surfaces (and, of course, any loose replacement batteries as well).

Still, says Arnold, “as long as batteries exist they’re going to be a problem.”

Which is why parents need to know the signs of trouble.

Most accidental ingestions aren’t witnessed by an adult, according to the National Capital Poison Center, which offers treatment guidelines and a list of symptoms to look for if a battery is assumed to have been swallowed.

Among them: drooling, coughing, vomiting, chest pain, inability to swallow and refusal to eat.

Meanwhile, discussions about choking and poison hazards of all types — including dishwasher and laundry detergent “pods,” toy pieces such as Legos and monetary coins — should be had.

“We need to educate our families,” Zacur says, who notes that anything that can fit through a toilet paper tube shouldn’t be given to small children. “Hopefully, there is more awareness going around.”

Batteries are a danger to children

The number of cases of batteries swallowed by children is increasing every year all over the world. First of all, this applies to button-type batteries. The frequency of severe (even fatal) consequences caused by the presence of a battery in the gastrointestinal tract is also growing, which has increased by 7.5 times over the past three years. This is primarily due to the increasing frequency of use of lithium batteries, which cause more severe damage than the previously common nickel-cadmium batteries. The most severe injuries result from ingestion of 20 mm lithium batteries (CR2032, CR2025 and CR2016) .

Button batteries are no doubt in every home, they are used in such common energy-consuming devices as watches, hearing aids, remote controls, flashlights, sound greeting cards, portable medical devices intended for home use (vapor inhalers, blood pressure monitors). pressure), toothbrushes, and, of course, children’s toys.

There is no limit to the imagination of manufacturers of goods for children, who, apparently, believe that every item intended for a child must light up or make sounds (and this requires the use of batteries The last 2-3 years, the number of such toys has increased significantly, as well as their rotation and reduced cost.Literally every week, manufacturers offer a new inexpensive luminous item, urging parents to please children with a new toy.As a result, many potentially dangerous items accumulate in homes, and children come into contact with batteries the most.Statistically, the risk of swallowing batteries increases in children from one to four years of age, after the age of five, the frequency of such cases decreases markedly. Boys swallow batteries more often. Due to the progressive decrease in the size of batteries, cases of inhalation of batteries, their entry into the nose and ear canals, have become common.

What happens after swallowing a battery?

After entering the humid environment of the esophagus, a short circuit occurs between the poles of the battery, as a result of which an electric burn not only of the mucous membrane, but also of deeper layers. More often, the battery passes through the esophagus rather quickly. If, due to the large size or the presence of structural features of the esophagus, it lingers there, then, after 2-2.5 hours, a mucosal burn develops as a result of electrolyte leakage. The degree of chemical damage to the esophagus does not depend on whether the battery is charged or discharged.

If the battery enters the acidic environment of the stomach cavity, its depressurization is almost inevitable, as a result of the destruction of the body, its contents come into contact with the mucous membrane, a chemical reaction begins, melting the tissues, up to complete destruction and the formation of deep ulcers as a result of a chemical burn.

In addition, the toxic components of the battery electrolyte are absorbed into the general bloodstream.

How do you know if a child has swallowed a battery?

Vomiting
Cough
Decreased appetite
Salivation
Perhaps the complete absence of symptoms in the first hours.

What should I do if a child swallows a battery?

If the battery is swallowed, seek emergency medical attention immediately. Delay is unacceptable, battery depressurization can occur after 2.5 hours.
Do not drink or feed your baby until the doctor has seen him, as this may aggravate the severity of the injury.
If you have a battery pack or the device itself containing batteries, take it with you, this will help the doctor identify the type of battery and its chemical composition, which will determine the tactics of his further actions.

Prevention of swallowing batteries.

Keep new batteries out of the reach of children. Avoid child contact with batteries from an already opened package
Keep used batteries ready for disposal out of the reach of children.
Make sure that the battery compartment of any home appliance is securely closed and securely fastened and is resistant to possible attempts by a child to open it and / or the product is stored out of the reach of children.
Toys and other objects in the child’s reach must be provided with a battery compartment, the lid of which is fixed with metal screws.
Purchase batteries only from trusted manufacturers, check the expiration date of the batteries.

How to get a swallowed battery.

After X-ray confirmation of the presence of a battery in the esophagus or stomach, it is immediately removed using an endoscope.
If a large diameter battery is swallowed, it can get stuck in the pylorus (the place where the stomach connects to the intestines) or become lodged in the intestines and may require surgery to remove it.

Protecting a child from the risk of swallowing a battery is the responsibility of parents.
Remember, every contact your baby has with devices containing batteries is potentially dangerous.

A child swallowed a battery, what to do – December 29, 2022

Society

29 December 2022, 14:27

4 comments

After the death of a one-year-old girl who swallowed a battery from a toy, the doctor explained when toys are life-threatening.

A one-year-old girl died in St. Petersburg after she swallowed a battery from a toy, and her parents turned to doctors for help two months after this happened. The child could not be saved. Doctors recommend that parents think before putting a gift to a child under the New Year tree – whether it will harm. Lidia Lopatina, head of the endoscopy department of the Children’s City Hospital No. 5 named after N.N. Filatov.

Most often, children take out batteries from Chinese toys. They swallow any: from those that are the size of a pill to the little fingers. As the endoscopist Lidia Lopatina explains, batteries are chemically active foreign bodies that can very quickly cause deep burns in the gastrointestinal tract, up to perforation of the wall. At the same time, the smallest and little fingers can still slip through the esophagus and go out on their own. A flat round battery with a diameter of 1–2 cm is the most dangerous. It gets stuck in the esophagus.

The battery corrodes the walls of the esophagus

The esophagus suffers the most, because the battery is cramped in it and its edges fit snugly against the walls of the organ, while in a humid environment it quickly begins to oxidize – the contents fall directly on the tissues and literally corrode their. If the process goes very far, neighboring organs (trachea, large blood vessels) may suffer. The sooner you seek help, the more likely it is to remove the threat to the life of the child or the risk of remaining disabled.

“Injuries in the esophagus develop rapidly. Even if parents quickly discover the loss of the battery and call an ambulance, after a couple of hours from the moment of ingestion during endoscopy, we see changes in the esophageal mucosa that have already begun. And the longer the battery stays there, the more it gets injured,” says Lidia Lopatina. – If the battery managed to slip into the stomach, then the damage will be less, because there it is in the gastric juice, it dilutes the concentration of the aggressive substance, plus it somehow moves, and does not constantly affect the same place, and the walls the stomach is “thicker” than the esophagus, due to this, burns in it are rarely very deep. The further the battery moves in the direction of “stomach – intestines”, the less damage at the end of this path. But if we find a battery on an x-ray somewhere in the projection of the stomach, and not in the esophagus, we still perform an endoscopy to check if there is a burn. If the child, before getting to the endoscopist, ate, you have to wait for some time. During this period, the battery leaves with the food, and the specialist examines the stomach, and if there is no damage in it, then you are lucky.”

Filatov’s children who swallowed something, there are more than 1000 of them in a year. But not everything is removed. An average of 250-300 of them get to the endoscopist. In general, according to statistics, up to 80% of foreign bodies that have entered the gastrointestinal tract come out on their own – parents often find that children have swallowed some kind of beads or beads when they gleam in a pot. On average, about 50 children a year are delivered by ambulance with swallowed batteries.

Doctors are not allowed to forget about magnetic balls

It is unlikely that anyone considered children who died or became disabled due to magnetic balls (constructors of the “Neocube” type) in the early – mid-2010s. Fortunately, in comparison with that time, there were much fewer victims – a maximum of five children a year. But they usually end up on the operating table.

“The tragedies caused by swallowing small magnets, although much less common than before, still happen today – doctors are not allowed to forget about their existence. The consequences of playing with these balls for kids are terrible. They are deadly when a child swallows two or more pieces, and not immediately, but gradually. One ball will not bring harm, it comes out and that’s it. Magnets swallowed in a heap will clump together and also come out safely in a natural way. But those that are swallowed one at a time with some time interval are evenly distributed throughout the gastrointestinal tract, and once in the intestine, they tend to each other through its walls. Where they connect, peristalsis and blood circulation are disturbed. The longer the magnets are in the intestine, the higher the risk of necrosis and perforation (hole formation) at their junctions. The contents of the intestine enter the abdominal cavity. Deadly complications develop,” explains Lidia Lopatina.

Give plush rabbits without batteries

The doctor recommends choosing a New Year’s gift according to the child’s age. Read the instructions – it indicates what age it is designed for. Of course, it is difficult now to find a toy that does not have batteries; even the seemingly most harmless teddy bears or rabbits are sold with them. But these are suitable only for children of conscious age, they are contraindicated for babies and even children of primary school age. Even seven-year-olds, who have swallowed coins or batteries, receive small parts from ordinary designers at Children’s State Hospital No. 5.

It is very important not to leave the little ones to themselves during the New Year celebration, even if they do not have toys with batteries or magnetic balls. Children are able to swallow anything, from Christmas tree decoration beads to household chemical solutions. On the eve of the New Year, even electrical injuries are becoming more frequent – children who have unsuccessfully turned on an electric garland come to the doctors.

Parents should remember: if a child brought a toy to his parents and there is no battery in it, – find her. If it is not found in the apartment, consult a doctor. It is also necessary to go to the hospital if the parents did not notice that the child swallowed something, but noticed choking, inexplicable anxiety of the baby, retching, increased salivation, refusal to eat. The risks of rapid and aggressive exposure of electrolytes to the gastrointestinal tract increase if a new battery is introduced into it – the longer it has been in use, the less tissue damage.

Irina Baglikova, Fontanka.ru

Photo: Ilya Galakhov/Kommersant

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