Repository Citation
Reddy, Nikhil; Vu, Long; and Agrawal, Sangeeta, "Domestic Currency as a Foreign Body" (2021). Medical Student Research Symposium Abstracts and Posters. 1.
https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/msrs/2021/poster_presentations_1/1
Start Date
29-4-2021 7:05 PM
End Date
29-4-2021 7:15 PM
Document Type
Poster
Description
Foreign body ingestion is most commonly described in children, however this event can occur in adults as well. In Western countries, the most common cause of esophageal foreign bodies in adults is meat, while coins represent the most common object found in children. Symptoms of foreign body ingestion include sensation of a foreign body, chest pain, dysphagia, and vomiting. In 80% of cases, the foreign body is passed naturally. However, complications of retained esophageal foreign bodies can be life-threatening; therefore, emergent esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) within 2-6 hours is recommended for ingestions of sharp objects, batteries, or those causing complete esophageal obstruction. For symptomatic patients with other objects and with incomplete obstruction, therapeutic EGD within 24 hours is the treatment of choice.
Here, we describe a case of 2 retained coins found in the distal esophagus of a 72 year-old male veteran who presented to his primary care provider with complaints of fatigue and shortness of breath. A computed tomography (CT) scan was ordered to evaluate his shortness of breath and revealed an incidental finding of a 2.6 cm discoid metallic foreign body in his esophagus. The patient had no memory of swallowing atypical substances, and endorsed no gastrointestinal symptoms. Upper endoscopy revealed two American one-dollar coins which were subsequently removed by retrieval net without complication.
Abstract - Reddy
Domestic Currency as a Foreign Body
Foreign body ingestion is most commonly described in children, however this event can occur in adults as well. In Western countries, the most common cause of esophageal foreign bodies in adults is meat, while coins represent the most common object found in children. Symptoms of foreign body ingestion include sensation of a foreign body, chest pain, dysphagia, and vomiting. In 80% of cases, the foreign body is passed naturally. However, complications of retained esophageal foreign bodies can be life-threatening; therefore, emergent esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) within 2-6 hours is recommended for ingestions of sharp objects, batteries, or those causing complete esophageal obstruction. For symptomatic patients with other objects and with incomplete obstruction, therapeutic EGD within 24 hours is the treatment of choice.
Here, we describe a case of 2 retained coins found in the distal esophagus of a 72 year-old male veteran who presented to his primary care provider with complaints of fatigue and shortness of breath. A computed tomography (CT) scan was ordered to evaluate his shortness of breath and revealed an incidental finding of a 2.6 cm discoid metallic foreign body in his esophagus. The patient had no memory of swallowing atypical substances, and endorsed no gastrointestinal symptoms. Upper endoscopy revealed two American one-dollar coins which were subsequently removed by retrieval net without complication.
