Foreign Body Ingestion

The majority of foreign body ingestions occur in the children ages of 6 months and 6 years. In adults, foreign body ingestion occurs more commonly in those with psychiatric disorders, developmental delay & alcohol intoxication. Edentulous adults are also at greater risk of ingesting foreign bodies, including an obstructing food bolus or their dental prosthesis. Patients presenting with food bolus impaction often have underlying esophageal pathology directly leading to the impaction. Commonly ingested foreign body are short-blunt objects (coins), long objects (more than 6 cm: tooth brush), sharp pointed objects (chicken & fishbones, paperclips, toothpicks, needles, dental bridges), disk batteries, magnets, narcotics packets.