According to a study, children are swallowing the biggest things – and the number of emergency visits has almost doubled in 20 years

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The researchers used the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, administered by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, to determine the number of children under 6 years old seen in emergency rooms in the United States. After swallowing an object between 1995 and 2015.
More than 755,000 children – an average of 99 per day – swallowed objects and were taken to the emergency room during the 20-year study period. The annual rate increased from 9.5 out of 10,000 in 1995 to 18 out of 10,000 in 2015, an increase of more than 90%, according to the study published Friday in the journal Pediatrics.

"Children in this age group tend to put objects in their mouths," the authors explained, adding that children were seduced by the colors, shapes, and sizes of various objects.

Coins were the object most often swallowed, followed by toys, jewelry and batteries. Boys were more likely to swallow items than girls: 53% vs. 47%. Boys were also more likely to swallow screws and nails, while girls were more likely to swallow jewelry and hair products.

In each category, there was one article most often swallowed. For coins, it was money; for toys, it was marbles; for jewelry, it was earrings; and for batteries, it was the button cells.

The vast majority – 97% – of the cases occurred at home, which, according to the authors, is probably due to the accessibility of the types of objects.

Toy-related injuries send a record number of children to the E.R.

In most cases, children seen in the emergency department were released, but 10% had to be hospitalized. The highest hospitalization rates were recorded among children who swallowed coins.

In second place for the number of hospitalizations: batteries that, with magnets, present a serious risk of ingestion, noted the authors. Button cells can lodge in the esophagus and cause a type of burn-like injury, which can lead to tissue death and possible perforation. Magnets can break the walls of the intestine when many of them are ingested.

The authors explaining that the results might underestimate the total number of children who swallow objects; They may also consult their primary care physician or emergency care center, or call the poison control center and be notified to stay at home.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the North American Pediatric Gastroenterology Society recommend keeping small objects out of the reach of children, to ensure that child-proof packaging is used and to keep to the market gap particularly dangerous products such as small magnetic toys.

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