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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21088/ijem.2395.311X.4318.22

Abstract

The diagnosis of button battery ingestion in toddler age group can be quite difficult as the patient cannot give the history himself/herself (unless it is witnessed). Such ingestion can lead to serious complications due to either mechanical obstruction of the foodpipe or leakage of alkaline liquid from the battery which can cause necrosis and perforation of the GI tract leading to death if not intervened early. It is very rare to see prolonged impaction of a button battery in the esophagus without any life-threatening complications. We hereby describe a case of a one and a half year old boy who ingested a button battery approximately 20 days back (unwitnessed) which got impacted in the esophagus and remained there for about 20 days before presenting to us with complaints of poor feeding, cough and fever. He was managed in the pediatric ICU where the button battery was retrieved and the child was discharged in a stable condition.

Keywords : Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (UGIE); Impacted Foreign Body (FB); Button Battery (BB); Foreign Body Ingestion; Chest X-Ray (CXR); Pediatric Age Group; Hypopharynx; Cricopharynx; Upper Airway Obstruction; Nasogastric Tube (NGT); Perforation; Tracheoesophageal Fistula(TEF); Aorto-Esophageal Fistul a(AEF); Stricture; Fibrosis; Direct Laryngoscopy (DL); Alkaline Caustic Exposure; Liquefactive Necrosis.

Corresponding Author : Ritu Sabharwal, Attending Consultant, Department of Emergency Medicine, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Vaishali, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh 201012, India.