Medium urgency
-Moderately severe
It is an object impacted in the esophagus after being swallowed voluntarily or involuntarily.
In adults, it is most frequently a piece of meat and in children a coin.
It manifests with a sensation of occupation of the neck or upper thorax, rapid inability to swallow, salivation, nausea, vomiting, choking sensation, sore throat and chest pain.
Diagnosis is obtained by clinical questioning, physical examination and imaging tests.
Treatment focuses on pain relief with analgesia and removal of the foreign body with fibroesophagoscopy.
- George Triadafilopoulos. Ingested foreign bodies and food impactions in adults. UpToDate, Jan 07, 2016.
- Ribas Y, Ruiz-Luna D, Garrido M, et al. Ingested foreign bodies: do we need a specific approach when treating inmates? Am Surg 2014; 80:131.
- Palta R, Sahota A, Bemarki A, et al. Foreign-body ingestion: characteristics and outcomes in a lower socioeconomic population with predominantly intentional ingestion. Gastrointest Endosc 2009; 69:426.
- Louis Michel Wong Kee Song, Mark Topzian. Endoscopia del tubo digestivo. Obstrucción esofágica aguda. Harrison. Principios de Medicina Interna. Volumen 2. 19ª Edición. 1891:1893.
- Marta Romero Gutiérrez, José María Carrobles Jiménez, Alejandro Repiso Ortega. Cuerpos extraños en el aparato digestivo. Manual de protocolos y actuación en urgencias. Hospital Virgen de la Salud, Complejo Hospitalario de Toledo. Tercera edición. 2010. 477: 479.
Dr. Oscar Garcia-Esquirol
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