Button Battery Ingestion in Children - Dangers of Innocence

Introduction

The usage of electronic gadgets in every household has become very common, and inside, all of these gadgets can be very powerful batteries that look like coins or tubes. Most of the time, these devices are easy for young children to get to. However, if these batteries are swallowed, they can get stuck in the throat, esophagus, or other parts of the GI tract and cause severe electrochemical burns. Unfortunately, in the last few years, this problem has gotten worse.

Children often swallow things that they should not. For example, button batteries are used in many things around the house, like hearing aids, watches, calculators, flashlights, and remote controls. Button battery ingestion has become more common over the past few decades. Even though most swallowed batteries pass through the digestive system without any problems, 12.6 % of children younger than six years who swallow batteries with a diameter of less than 20 mm can have a significant problem or die from it. Patients may not have any symptoms at first or may have vague symptoms. Since most of these events only happen after everyone, diagnosing and treating them quickly is hard.

What Are Button Battery Injuries?

Button batteries are small, round batteries that are often found in devices such as remote controls, watches, and hearing aids. Ingesting a button battery can be very dangerous for a child, as the battery can get stuck in the esophagus and cause severe damage. Button batteries can be very dangerous if they get stuck in the esophagus. If the battery leaks, it can release harmful chemicals that can cause severe burns. If the battery does not leak, it can still cause burns by producing an electrical current.

What Causes Button Battery Injuries in Children?

Little children tend to put items in their mouths, and button batteries appeal to youngsters of this age due to their size and the fact that they are reflecting.

While button batteries are typically already installed, parents are often unaware that a particular item contains a button battery. In addition, things that run on button batteries generally are relatively easy to obtain for children (toys, calculators, musical greeting cards). These product coverings can frequently be removed without much effort, which makes them a feasible threat to the health and safety of young children.

In just two hours, if a button battery is ingested, it can burn through the esophagus (which is the tube through which food is taken), resulting in serious internal burns, severe bleeding, or even death.

What Are the Symptoms of Button Battery Ingestion?

A child who has consumed a button battery may exhibit the following symptoms:

• Wheezing.

• Drooling.

• Coughing

• Vomiting and chest pain.

• Refusal to eat.

• Gagging during drinking or eating.

You might not notice these ingestions, frequently mistaken for swallowed coins. However, acting quickly can save a youngster's airway if the child has swallowed a button battery. It is also vital to know if a magnet was consumed alongside the battery, which could result in more harm.

How Is a Button Battery Ingestion Treated?

• If the X-ray shows that the battery is in the esophagus, an endoscopy will be done immediately to take it out.

• If the test shows that the battery is in the stomach, the person might not need to go to the hospital.

• The battery should be able to fit through their toilet. But if they are at home and get a fever, stomach pain, throw up, or have blood in their stools, they should go to the emergency room immediately.

• If no immediate treatment exists, an X-ray may be needed after 48 hours to ensure the battery is dead.

• The treatment for button battery ingestion depends on the location of the battery.

• If the battery is in the stomach, usually doctors will wait for the expulsion of the battery through feces, and if 24 hours passed and the child does not pass it out and has pain and discomfort developing, then it is removed through surgery.

• Endoscopic Management: The battery size affects whether or not an endoscopic retrieval is needed. 25 % of batteries bigger than 15 mm in diameter need to be removed with an endoscope, but only 2.8 % of smaller batteries need to be removed with an endoscope. Endoscopy works for 90% of people who have batteries in their esophagus.

What Are the Ways to Prevent Button Battery Injuries?

• Never allow children to play with button batteries in order to avoid button batteries being swallowed.

• Keep household devices that may contain button batteries out of reach of children. Do not let children play with vehicle keys, remote controls, or other household products that contain button batteries.

• Check any toys that use button batteries to see if they have screw-on battery covers that prevent batteries from falling out or being readily removed, or throw them away.

• Toys that use button batteries as a power source should be avoided.

• Keep spare batteries hidden and out of sight.

What to Do if a Battery Has Been Swallowed?

• If one thinks a child has swallowed a button battery, go to the emergency room of the nearest hospital right away.

• If a button battery injury is not treated immediately, it could be fatal. If one thinks someone has swallowed a button battery, call an ambulance right away. Do not wait for symptoms to show up.

• If no one knows it, and a child swallows a button battery, they may show the following signs and symptoms:

• Problems with noisy breathing or pain in the chest swallowing.

• Drooling.

• Spitting up blood or going to the bathroom with dark, yucky poop.

• If the child has any of the above, immediately take the child to the emergency room of the nearest hospital right away.

Conclusion

Ingestion of button batteries poses a significant threat, with related consequences that are more common and severe than those caused by other foreign bodies. Within a few hours of consumption, it is possible to experience full-thickness burns, esophageal perforation, trachea-esophageal fistulation, and even esophagus-aortic fistulation.