Case Reports
Experience of Radiopaque Foreign Bodies in Childhood　−Movement of Radiopaque Foreign Body at the Time of Diagnosis and Its Treatment−
Takehito Oshio, Masao Hino, Takahiro Asakawa, Hisamitsu Shinohara
Department of Pediatric Surgery, National Kagawa Children’s Hospital
Abstract
Some foreign bodies depending on their form, location, and material have to be removed quickly from their place. When a decision for removal has been made, the interval between diagnosis and treatment is usually short but the foreign body has a chance to change its location. Before treatment, if re-confirmation of its location, especially in the case of a radiopaque foreign body, is not done, the patient will rarely receive unnecessary procedures such as general anesthesia and endoscopy. We experienced four such cases among 100 radiopaque foreign bodies during the past 29 years.
　　Case 1 : A four-year-old boy swallowed a dental prosthesis during treatment. A plain radiograph finding showed a foreign body in his right bronchus. One hour later, he received general anesthesia for removal of it, but it was found in his stomach. It was excreted 16 hours later.
　　Case 2 : A four-year-old girl swallowed a small toy magnet. A plain chest X-ray film revealed it in her right bronchus. Two hours later, general anesthesia was given to remove it. It had already moved into her stomach. It was extracted using tube with a strong magnet.
　　Case 3 : A three-year-old boy swallowed a 10-yen coin. The radiograph showed it in his upper esophagus. One hour later performing an endoscopy under general anesthesia the coin was not found in his esophagus. Fluoroscopy showed it was inside the stomach and it was removed using gastroendoscopy.
　　Case 4 : A one-year-old female swallowed a clothespin spring. It stayed in her stomach for two days. Four hours after its confirmation with a gastric contrast study, a general anesthesia was done. But, it had already moved into her small intestine. It was excreted spontaneously after 18 hours.
Keywords：Foreign body, Bronchus, Esophagus, Stomach, Radiopaque

CLOSE