A mother brings her 2 year old into the emergency department.
“I’ve lost my house key and can’t get into the house. Johnny was playing with it. I wonder if there is any way he could have swallowed it?”
Any comments on how to manage?
Pretty much leave well enough alone. If the child is asymptomatic and the item has passed by the oesophagus. It will usually pass. If the object is in the oesophagus, or has passed the oesophagus but is something potentially dangerous, such as a item containing lead, or the child has abdominal pain, or passes or vomits blood, endoscopy is then needed.
Posted in Blog, Paediatrics
Popular Posts
Paediatric Pearls
I've given a talk on Paediatric Pearls in the past. I recently revived the talk for my residents, so thought...
Treating the Hypoxic COVID-19 Patient: Can low flow systems be improved?
Hi Everyone I hope you're holding up out there. As we prepare for the onslaught that may come our way,...
Cardiogenic Shock: Which Vasopressor to use
In the patient who presents with cariogenic shock, the cath lab and a stent or a CABG is probably the...
The U wave and the ECG: Don’t miss this
The U wave is an often ignored deflection on the ECG. It is usually < 1mm, upright and has the...
5 Things you Must do when Patients Present with Syncope
Patients who present to the emergency department following a syncopal episode can be a diagnostic challenge to us. There are...
11 Things to Maximise Adult Cardiac Resuscitation
INTRODUCTION I was recently speaking with a colleague, about a recently published paper on ‘ideal’ compressions and depth combinations in...
Head injury and blood thinners-When to Scan
Head injury in the anticoagulated patient can be a challenge. Below is the approach I use. I then read a...
The 6 Human Needs
As part of a talk on ‘Dealing with Difficult People’, I gave at EMCORE Hong Kong this year, I spoke...