Article Type : Case Report
Authors : Priyadarshini P, Chakraborty P, Halder P and Chatterjee A
Keywords : Children; Foreign body; Sharp; Endoscopy; Conservative; Management
Children with accidental ingestion of foreign body need
careful observation and evaluation but ingested sharp and long objects deserve
more. Perforation or obstruction are troublesome in children with ingested
sharp / pointed or relatively long objects which are too long to traverse the pylorus.
The surgeons often found themselves on the horns of a dilemma, whether to wait
and watch for spontaneous expulsion or to go for the early intervention. Here
is a case report of a 7 year old boy with long sharp foreign body ingestion who
was managed conservatively in our institute.
Foreign body (FB) ingestion is one of the common problems in male than in female child between the ages six months and six years. FBs are blunt in majority of cases (coins or button cells) but, sharp / pointed or long and chemically active objects ingestion are reported [1]. Fish bones, small pins or iron nails get stuck in posterior pharynx or upper esophagus. However, beyond esophagus, impaction occurs within the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) in patients with underlying GI tract abnormalities or who had previous GI surgeries. Asymptomatic patients with radiopaque small metallic objects ingestion, can be managed conservatively for spontaneous passage through per naturalis. But symptomatic patients should be referred to a Pediatric Gastroenterologist or Pediatric Surgeon, for endoscopy or surgical intervention especially who have had surgery or with motility issues and known or suspected GI tract abnormalities [2]. Here we report a case of ingested large sharp metallic nail which was managed conservatively.
Figure 1: Straight X-Ray abdomen AP and lateral view at the time of initial presentation in OPD (A), AP view X-Ray abdomen after 30 hours of admission (B) and picture of the iron nail after passing with stool after 40 hours of admission (C).
A 7yr old boy presented
at our outpatient department (OPD) with pain and discomfort in throat following
ingestion of sharp iron nail 24 hours back. Immediate X ray of chest and
abdomen showed 4.2 cm long radiopaque FB in upper abdomen (Figure 1).
Patient was otherwise asymptomatic and vital
signs were normal. An upper G.I. endoscopy was advocated to locate this long
sharp nail in the stomach and retrieval if feasible. But, it was not found up
to the 2nd part of duodenum. Patient was admitted and put for close observation
and planned for serial x-ray of abdomen if he remained asymptomatic. Pulse,
B.P, was monitored hourly with abdominal examinations for development of muscle
guarding, rigidity or rebound tenderness along with onset of bilious vomiting
or abdominal distension. However, the child was allowed liquid orally with an
IV access. After 40 hours of admission, the patient passed the sharp nail along
with stool. There was no history of bleeding per rectum. The vital signs,
routine blood reports were normal throughout the stay. Patient was discharged
on very next day in stable condition after a repeat x ray (post FB passage).
Toddlers and
preschoolers explore the world with their mouths and fine and gross motor
skills in them are in developing stage. Thus, foreign body ingestions are
common in this age group. Older children, most commonly boys, also ingest
foreign bodies, typically due to poor situational decision-making. Though most
of the ingested FBs are blunt and rounded (coin, toys, magnets and batteries)
and are expelled spontaneously through natural passage, some FBs are sharp /
pointed and harmful due to chemically not inert (batteries and magnets) which
need to be removed at the earliest [3]. The use of a flexible endoscopy is safe
and effective in these cases, with a high success rate, for the effective
extraction of FBs from the upper gastrointestinal tract of a child [4,5]. Size
and location of a FB greatly influences its management plan. Large and
irregular/sharp objects may get impacted causing obstruction and even
perforation in its passage through GIT which may need endoscopic removal or
surgical intervention. But long and sharp object with one blunt end usually
tends to align itself longitudinally due to peristalsis with its blunt end as
leading part with sharp tip trailing behind. These FBs usually passes
spontaneously if observed closely along with radiographic monitoring. There is
also one school of thought that at least 72 hours are to be noted for
spontaneous expulsion if patient remains asymptomatic [6,7]. Surgeons need to
have careful decision making before jumping to any early operative
interventions [8]. In our case a sharp nail of 4.2 cm in the GIT of a 7 yrs.
old child was really worrisome because there was every chance of gut
perforation. Initially we did x ray and an upper G.I. endoscopy to locate and
remove if it got stuck in stomach. But it passed downwards. So we choose to
wait and admit the patient and kept him under close observation as the patient
was asymptomatic. The result was as expected, FB passed with stool and thus we
could avoid an exploratory laparotomy. Yeh et al. documented that once if a FB
passes the duodenal curve, it is likely to be passed through the anus. However,
larger FB may take longer transit time [9].
As FB ingestion and its
complications are common at pediatric emergency departments, management of the
patient also includes proper counseling of parents or caretakers. There is no
harm in observation in asymptomatic case even if the FB is relatively large and
pointed .It prevents the morbidity and mortality of an unwanted laparotomy in
young patients, however small it may be.