Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr 8;13(2):98-103.
doi: 10.1136/flgastro-2021-101776. eCollection 2022.

Endoscopic management of intentional foreign body ingestion: experience from a UK centre

Sina Yadollahi  1 , Ryan Buchannan  1   2 , Nadeem Tehami  1 , Bernard Stacey  1 , Imbadhur Rahman  1 , Philip Boger  3 , Mark Wright  4
Affiliations

Endoscopic management of intentional foreign body ingestion: experience from a UK centre

Sina Yadollahi et al. Frontline Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Objective: We report on the increasing incidence and outcomes from intentional foreign body ingestion (iFoBI) presenting to our hospital over a 5-year period. The aim was to assess the impact on services and to identify ways to safely mitigate against this clinical challenge.

Design/method: We performed a retrospective observational study of all patients presenting to a university hospital between January 2015 and April 2020 with iFoBI with a focus on objects swallowed, timing of endoscopy and clinical outcomes.

Results: 239 episodes of iFoBI in 51 individuals were recorded with a significant increase in incidence throughout the study period (Welch (5, 17.3)=15.1, p<0.001), imposing a high burden on staff and resources. Items lodged in the oesophagus were more likely to lead to mucosal injury (p=0.009) compared with elsewhere. Ingested item type and timing of endoscopy were not related to complications (p=0.78) or length of stay (p=0.8). In 12% of cases, no objects were seen at endoscopy.

Conclusion: In all except those patients with oesophageal impaction of the object on radiograph, there is no need to perform endoscopic extraction out of hours. A subset of cases can avoid endoscopy with an X-ray immediately prior to the procedure as a significant proportion have passed already. We discuss more holistic approaches to deal with recurrent attendances.

Keywords: economic evaluation; endoscopic procedures; endoscopy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency of admission for iFOBI over the period evaluated.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Outcomes for each episode during the period evaluated. iFoBI, intentional foreign body ingestion; OGD, oesophagogastroduodenoscopy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hsieh A, Hsiehchen D, Layne S, et al. . Trends and clinical features of intentional and accidental adult foreign body ingestions in the United States, 2000 to 2017. Gastrointest Endosc 2020;91:350–7. 10.1016/j.gie.2019.09.010 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Robertson AR. Self-Harm by sharp foreign body ingestion. Suicide Life Threat Behav 2019;49:735–8. 10.1111/sltb.12474 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Huang BL, Rich HG, Simundson SE, et al. . Intentional swallowing of foreign bodies is a recurrent and costly problem that rarely causes endoscopy complications. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2010;8:941–6. 10.1016/j.cgh.2010.07.013 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Poynter BA, Hunter JJ, Coverdale JH, et al. . Hard to swallow: a systematic review of deliberate foreign body ingestion. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 2011;33:518–24. 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2011.06.011 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Evans DC, Wojda TR, Jones CD, et al. . Intentional ingestions of foreign objects among prisoners: a review. World J Gastrointest Endosc 2015;7:162. 10.4253/wjge.v7.i3.162 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources