Foreign body in alimentary tract

One of the most common locations for a foreign body is the alimentary tract.

It is possible for foreign bodies to enter the tract from the mouth, or from the rectum.

The objects most commonly swallowed by children are coins. Meat impaction is more common in adults.

Swallowed objects are more likely to lodge in the esophagus or stomach than in the pharynx or duodenum.

Diagnosis
If the person who swallowed the foreign body is doing well, usually a x-ray image will be taken which will show any metal objects, and this will be repeated a few days later to confirm that the object has passed all the way through the digestive system. Also it needs to be confirmed that the object is not stuck in the airways, in the bronchial tree.

Treatment
Most objects that are swallowed will, if they have passed the pharynx, pass all the way through the gastrointestinal tract unaided.

However, sometimes an object becomes arrested (usually in the terminal ileum or the rectum) or a sharp object penetrates the bowel wall.

If the foreign body causes problems like pain, vomiting or bleeding it must be removed.

Swallowed batteries can be associated with additional damage, with mercury poisoning (from mercury batteries) and lead poisoning (from lead batteries) presenting important risks.

One technique used is endoscopic foreign body retrieval.