Consider ingested foreign bodies in the diagnosis of many respiratory and vague gastrointestinal complaints. Develop an approach to handling asymptomatic children with foreign body ingestion. Recognize certain ingested foreign bodies requiring special consideration. It seems to occur equally often in boys and girls. It is more likely in developmentally challenged children and those with previous esophageal surgery or caustic ingestion.
Coins are the commonest ingested foreign bodies.
Other foreign bodies frequently ingested by children include toys, marbles, crayons, buttons, safety pins and disc batteries. Food impaction is less common in children with previously normal esophagus compared to adults. Autistic, developmentally delayed or children with psychiatric disorders of any age are also at increased risk of multiple and chronic foreign body ingestion. Therefor, the treating pediatrician should consider that in the differential diagnosis of many GI and respiratory complaints. Furthermore, anticipatory guidance in well-child visits has been shown to reduce the incidence of foreign body ingestion in children in one study.