Lodged oesophageal button battery masquerading as a coin: an unusual cause of bilateral vocal cord paralysis

An 11-month-old girl with an oesophageal foreign bodywas presented: from the radiographic appearance it was presumed to be a coin. Microlaryngoscopy 5 h after ingestion revealed a button battery impacted in the hypopharynx with severe damage to the oesophageal mucosa. The patient was intubated for 6...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emergency medicine journal : EMJ 2007-03, Vol.24 (3), p.e15-e15
Main Authors: Bernstein, Jonathan Michael, Burrows, Stuart A, Saunders, Michael W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coins
Corrosion
Electric Power Supplies
Emergency Casebook
Esophagus
Female
Foreign Bodies - complications
Humans
Hypopharynx - injuries
Infant
Intubation
Laryngoscopy
Numismatics
Ostomy
Vocal Cord Paralysis - etiology
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Description
Summary:An 11-month-old girl with an oesophageal foreign bodywas presented: from the radiographic appearance it was presumed to be a coin. Microlaryngoscopy 5 h after ingestion revealed a button battery impacted in the hypopharynx with severe damage to the oesophageal mucosa. The patient was intubated for 6 days in the intensive care unit because of stridor and respiratory distress. Repeat microlaryngoscopy demonstrated bilateral vocal cord palsy, which was presumed to be secondary to the involvement of the recurrent laryngeal nerves in the injury. We recommend that in the absence of a history of observed ingestion, it should be assumed that coin-like foreign bodies are button batteries until proven otherwise.
ISSN:1472-0205
1472-0213
DOI:10.1136/emj.2006.044180