Parents of young children should ensure that small objects are kept out of their reach, a doctor said, citing data showing that about 90 percent of incidents of children choking occur at home.
Coin cell batteries are one of the most dangerous items typically swallowed by children, and parents should seek medical assistance for their child if they have swallowed such a high-risk object, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital pediatrician Wu Chang-teng (吳昌騰) said.
It is especially urgent if the child vomits or drools after swallowing the object, he said.
Photo copied by Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
From 2011 to 2015, 590 underage people received hospital treatment after ingesting foreign objects, he said, adding that 52.3 percent of them were boys and 47.7 percent were girls.
The average age was five, and a majority of the incidents occurred around noon, he said.
“We see children end up in the emergency room for swallowing all kinds of small objects: pills, coin cell batteries, coins, small toys and magnets — these are commonly swallowed,” he said.
Wu said his hospital had treated a two-year-old girl who had choked on a battery and whose neck had become stiff after the battery caused corrosion in her esophagus.
The girl’s parents rushed her to the emergency room after she began vomiting and drooling, he said.
“In the human body, batteries can short-circuit due to the humidity, and then discharge and generate heat,” he said. “Not only might the mucous membrane and cartilage be scalded, but the battery fluid might also corrode the esophageal mucosa.”
Such corrosion could cause complications such as esophageal stenosis — a tightening or narrowing of the esophagus — an esophageal perforation or vocal cord paralysis, he said.
Magnetic “buckyballs,” which are widely used in toys, also pose a significant danger, he said, citing the case of a three-year-old boy who had stomach punctures due to swallowing 23 of the magnets.
Numerous children in the US and Japan have died from swallowing “buckyballs,” he said.
Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Child Protection Center director Yeh Kuo-wei (葉國偉) said that parents should learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the Heimlich maneuver.
Learning these basic techniques can help parents save their child from choking after swallowing a foreign object, he said.
However, if a child swallows a poisonous substance, parents should immediately take them to a doctor, rather than inducing vomiting, he said, adding that vomiting could cause burns to the esophagus and the gastrointestinal tract.
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