Proceeding in button battery ingestion

Abstract

The flat batteries ingestion is every time more frequent, due to the increasing number of toys and machines, handle by children, that have incorporated this kind of batteries. The authors report the follow-up of 17 children that had ingested button batteries. They were subject to radiological surveillance and treated with a water overload. The battery removal was done by endoscopy when it was in esophagus, or stopped in other location during more than 8 hours. The endoscopy was necessary only in 1 case; other child expelled the battery by vomits; the remaining patients eliminated the batteries by rectum in 31 ± 17.4 hours. The authors comment the different methods of treatment according to danger of battery ingestions. They underline the convenience of publishing larger number of cases in order to establish an adequate proceeding of treatment to this accident.