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. 2021 Jul 26;5(1):e001042.
doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2021-001042. eCollection 2021.

Foreign body ingestion during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective single centre review

Naomi Tyne Festa  1 , Hemanshoo Thakkar  1 , Richard Hewitt  2 , Manal Dhaiban  1 , Nagarajan Muthialu  3 , Kate Cross  1 , Paolo De Coppi  1 ; GOSH Team
Collaborators, Affiliations

Foreign body ingestion during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective single centre review

Naomi Tyne Festa et al. BMJ Paediatr Open. .

Abstract

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, there were many changes in the provision of healthcare as well as home and educational environments for children. We noted an apparent increase in the number of children presenting with ingested foreign bodies and due to the potential impact of injury from this, further investigated this phenomenon.

Method: Using a prospective electronic record, data were retrospectively collected for patients referred to our institution with foreign body ingestion from March 2020 to September 2020 and compared with the same period the year prior as a control.

Results: During the 6-month pandemic period of review, it was observed that 2.5 times more children were referred with foreign body ingestion (n=25) in comparison to the control period (n=10). There was also a significant increase in the proportion of button battery and magnet ingestions during the COVID-19 pandemic (p 0.04).

Conclusion: These findings raise concerns of both increased frequency of foreign body ingestion during the COVID-19 pandemic and the nature of ingested foreign bodies linked with significant morbidity. This may relate to the disruption of home and work environments and carries implications for ongoing restrictions. Further awareness of the danger of foreign body ingestion, especially batteries and magnets, is necessary (project ID: 2956).

Keywords: COVID-19.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: No, there are no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Type of foreign body ingested.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Location of identified foreign body.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Management of foreign body ingestion.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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