What to do if a child swallows a foreign object. If the baby swallowed or inhaled a foreign body - how to wean a little fidget to taste everything

15.06.2019

The desire of children to taste everything is their natural reaction to the outside world, the craving to explore the surrounding things with the help of taste buds.

Often, licking and trying to gnaw or bite on the object under study does not end there - your child can swallow it. Foreign bodies end up in children's stomachs more often than in adults, appendixes are operated on and heart attacks occur.According to statistics, every 5-6th child in the world swallows something that is clearly not suitable for food. Parents need to be extremely vigilant so that a small foreign object does not cause big trouble.

Reasons why children swallow foreign objects

You should not blame the child for putting a foreign object in his mouth, and this caused problems with his health. In childhood, there are a number of objective physiological reasons why children swallow all sorts of uselessness:

At what age can the problem occur?

The child can drag a foreign object into his mouth as soon as he reaches it. And this means that The "starting point" when parents need to be very vigilant is the 7-8th month of life, when the baby begins to crawl and tries to reach new unknown objects for him.

At this time, small objects seem to be created for parents to stay in constant tension - the child’s vision is not yet perfect, he is only learning to focus it, which means that he will first of all stop his gaze on a small bright object that will be in his path of plastun crawling through the space of the children’s world . Sometimes a mother is saved by the fact that, due to incomplete focusing of vision, the baby may simply not see an object that is dangerous in terms of swallowing, even in absolute proximity to himself - but you should not rely on this, vigilance should be maximum.

According to statistics, most often children swallow foreign objects at the age of 1-3 years. During this period, they become more nimble, many are already walking, which means that the reach of tsatski, which must be pulled into the mouth, increases.

But the age of young “swallowers” (albeit not swords) is not limited to three or five years. Then the age of all sorts of experiments begins, when children can consciously and even deliberately “bite off” an inedible object. This is especially true for those tomboys who are in a team (in a kindergarten or in a yard “gang”) and subconsciously try to brag to others - something, just to brag. Also curious cases are described when children, even of middle school age, while studying and mechanically fiddling with some object in their hands, could start procrastinating it in their mouths and at the same time accidentally pull it into the esophagus. All these examples mean that parents should always be vigilant - whether the child is 7 months old or 7 years old.

Signs that a child has swallowed a foreign object

The fact that a child has swallowed a small object (a nut, a bead, a small denomination coin) can often go unnoticed. Mom finds out about this by chance, when the swallowed object, passing through the gastrointestinal tract, comes out with the feces.

You can suspect something is wrong if the child's behavior changes dramatically - he feels guilty (although he cannot explain), calms down and stops behaving as he usually does. In this case, you should ask him what happened, and whether he swallowed a multi-colored "candy". This should be done as affectionately as possible, even with the use of some diplomacy - otherwise the child, for fear of being punished, will stubbornly hide the fact of swallowing the object. Naturally, the sense of such questions will be if the child is at the age when he realizes that he did "something wrong."

The entry of a foreign body into the digestive tract of a child more than one centimeter in diameter manifests itself momentarily, in fact, in trouble. Symptoms by which you can suspect what happened:

In the vast majority of cases, a child swallows a foreign object commensurate with the diameter of the esophagus, and therefore the entire gastrointestinal tract - this means that it is able to come out naturally. In some cases, this does not happen, because the object gets stuck in the folds of the gastrointestinal tract.

Then its presence in the gastrointestinal tract can be suspected only when questioning the child and the symptoms described above. Although it happens that a diagnosis can only be made using instrumental research methods (for example,) or after the fact, when a foreign object comes out.

Often, objects with sharp edges are swallowed, which, it would seem, cannot be swallowed (pins, paper clips, pushpins, and so on). In such cases, it is highly likely that they, stuck in any of the sections of the digestive tract, will not come out on their own either. Their presence in the gastrointestinal tract will be signaled by the child's complaints of acute pain - due to irritation of the mucous membrane.

Help. What not to do

Instead of multiple useless (and sometimes dangerous) actions, call a qualified doctor as soon as possible who will provide competent assistance to the child.

If the child began to cough and choke slightly, he should be placed on his knee face down so that the upper half of the body was lowered, while lightly tapping his fingers on the back between the shoulder blades. At the same time, do not overdo it with the force of tapping!

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Condition prevention

Rather, it lies in the field not medical, but domestic - parents need to constantly monitor the baby so that he does not stuff an object of interest to him into his mouth, and also, if possible, limit the child's ability to contact small objects.

If the child has grown up and listens to parental exhortations, it should be strictly forbidden to put foreign objects into his mouth.

Kovtonyuk Oksana Vladimirovna, medical commentator, surgeon, medical consultant

Small children put everything in their mouths and can sometimes swallow a small object. Most often, babies swallow pins, small parts of toys, coins, needles, small batteries or toys. How to understand and what to do if a child has swallowed a foreign body, we will consider in the article.

The child swallowed something small - first aid

Objects that get into the trachea or windpipe become really dangerous, as they block access to oxygen, as a result of which the baby can suffocate. Small objects that are swallowed and end up in the digestive tract are often easily excreted, but sometimes get stuck in the esophagus. A swallowed microbattery can cause erosion of the intestinal mucosa, therefore, if there is a suspicion that the baby has swallowed something, an x-ray is taken to find out which particular object got into the digestive tract and its location. After that, the doctor plans further actions.

It is good if it was immediately noticed that the child had swallowed a foreign object. In this case, the harm done is minimal, since the doctor's help will be quick and timely.

Symptoms that the baby has inhaled or swallowed something:

When a small object enters the respiratory tract, there are signs of suffocation: the child turns blue, turns pale, suffocates.
An object in the digestive system causes urge to vomit, salivation becomes profuse after 15 or 20 minutes .

Such symptoms serve as a reason to consult a doctor, you should immediately call an ambulance. Sometimes the baby will cough and it seems that his condition has improved, but you still need to contact the doctor, because not all objects can come out without having a detrimental effect on the digestive tract. It is unlikely that they will pull out a small coin, a bead, a bone or a detail of a designer, but they will follow its movement by means of an X-ray. Doctors remove larger objects.

Features of different objects that a child could swallow: table

Swallowed objects behave differently in the child's body, their traumatic effect on the body is also different.

How do they behave in the body and why are swallowed objects dangerous?

Subject	Signs that a child has swallowed an object	How does the object behave in the body?	What to do?
Battery	If it gets stuck in the throat, the baby coughs, suffocates. The stool becomes dark green or black with a metallic odor, usually within a couple of days of being swallowed. Fever, vomiting, loss of consciousness.	Under the influence of heat, moisture and gastric acid, the battery oxidizes and acid begins to corrode the gastric mucosa.	If the child is choking, induce vomiting. Call an ambulance as soon as possible or go to the hospital yourself.
Magnet	There may be no symptoms for several days. Later, a runny nose, cough, abdominal pain, high fever, loss of consciousness appear.	In 30% of cases, it is retained in the esophagus, in 70% - in the stomach. A magnet with sharp edges injures the mucosa of the esophagus. Several magnets are attracted to each other, seriously injuring the intestines.	Do not induce vomiting, do not give food or food, seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Gum	One swallowed plate will not cause unpleasant symptoms. If the baby swallowed a lot, then abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhea may occur.	Once in the stomach, the chewing gum is digested in 6-10 hours or it comes out unchanged, without damaging anything. If several packages are swallowed, allergies, poisoning, constipation, diarrhea are possible.	One plate does not pose a threat, if a lot is swallowed, observe the child and if there are deviations in behavior, consult a doctor.
Coin	If it gets stuck in the esophagus, the baby becomes restless, cries, refuses to eat, or immediately spits up food. There may be hiccups, salivation, in very young children - shortness of breath and cough due to the pressure of the coin on the respiratory organs from the esophagus.	Most often, the coin leaves the gastrointestinal tract without having a detrimental effect. In very rare cases, intestinal obstruction or perforation of the esophagus may develop.	If the coin worsens the condition of the child, then it must be removed immediately, if everything is fine, just watch the baby.
Button	Most often, there are no symptoms, since the button rarely gets stuck in the esophagus.	The button will come out naturally, unchanged.	Do not give laxatives or induce vomiting. If the child behaves normally, wait until he comes out with feces. If the behavior of the baby changes, you should consult a doctor.
Needle	Profuse salivation, anxiety, cough, flushing of the face, choking, sweating, fever.	It can get a sharp end into the lungs or heart. If it reaches the stomach, then in the vast majority of cases (80%) it comes out naturally, without injuring anything in 2-72 hours. Very rarely pierces the stomach or intestines. It can settle in soft tissues and cause pain and inflammation.	Seek immediate medical attention. Move as little as possible to avoid moving the needle through soft tissue. You can not induce vomiting and give a laxative, shake the baby.
Mercury	Weakness, malaise, high fever, headache, salivation, abdominal pain, diarrhea are observed.	It is not the balls of mercury that are dangerous, but its evaporation. Inhalation of vapors with air damages the lungs, kidneys and nervous system.	Induce vomiting as soon as possible and seek medical attention.
sharp object (stapler staple, pin)	The baby can constantly hiccup, blood appears in the feces, he is sick, vomiting is possible.	May puncture the stomach wall, leading to peritonitis.	Call an ambulance. You can not feed and give to drink until the doctor arrives.
Glass	There is hiccups, vomiting, nausea, pain in the chest, blood in the stool.	A small piece may come out on its own without damaging anything, but it may cut the stomach and intestines. A large piece is able to remain in the stomach for many years deteriorating health.	With clean hands, remove visible fragments from the mouth and call an ambulance. Do not induce vomiting or give laxatives.
Tablet	The first signs of poisoning will appear when the tablets begin to be absorbed into the blood. The child becomes irritable, his behavior changes, convulsions, loss of consciousness, nausea, vomiting, fever are possible.	The harmful effect depends on which tablet the baby swallowed. Especially dangerous if there were a lot of them.	Make gastric lavage, induce vomiting, then give 2-3 tablets of activated charcoal or other sorbent. Call an ambulance. Do not feed until the arrival of doctors.
piece of foil	Signs of malaise, lethargy, irritability.	Often comes out without damaging the digestive organs. Sometimes a piece of foil can scratch the walls of the esophagus, causing bleeding.	Call an ambulance. You can not feed and water the baby, induce vomiting, give a laxative before the arrival of the medical staff.
Plasticine	The baby can become lethargic, capricious. In very rare cases, for example, a rash appears.	A small piece of plasticine is not harmful. A large piece can cause a bowel obstruction or get stuck in the esophagus.	Watch the child. Seek medical attention if your child's behavior changes.
cotton wool	Usually absent.	Does not pose a danger to the child. Comes out naturally.	Observe the behavior and condition of the baby.
Pebble	Most often, there is no change in behavior. In very rare cases - irritability, weakness, lethargy.	It comes out naturally within three days in most cases.	Observe the child's behavior. If the condition worsens, consult a doctor.
Small piece of plastic	There are no symptoms unless the object is lodged in the esophagus and has not damaged the intestines with sharp edges.	In the vast majority of cases, it comes out on its own without damaging the internal organs. If the object has sharp edges, then it can damage the intestines.	Observe the child's stool and behavior. If an object with sharp edges has been swallowed, consult a doctor. It is not always possible to see a plastic object with the help of an X-ray due to the structure of the material.
small metal object	Unpleasant symptoms are rare. Sometimes there is hiccups, salivation, irritability, abdominal pain.	If it does not have sharp edges, then it will come out safely. If acute, it can injure the esophagus, stomach and intestines.	Seek medical attention if the child's condition worsens.
small bead	In most cases, there are no unpleasant symptoms.	In the vast majority of cases, it comes out naturally, without harming the child's body.	Monitor the condition of the child.
Tooth	Most often absent.	Mostly it comes out naturally, without harming the body.	You can't induce vomiting. Seek medical attention if your child's behavior changes.
Apricot pit, cherry, plum	Very rarely there is abdominal pain and blood in the stool.	A large bone with sharp edges can get stuck in the intestines.	then you need to monitor the condition of the baby and his stool. If unpleasant symptoms appear, consult a doctor.

The most dangerous when swallowed are three types of objects:

Items that are large . Here there is a possibility of intestinal obstruction due to its blockage by a foreign object.
Objects with piercing and sharp edges. Such objects can pierce the walls of the intestines and stomach, which leads to the need for urgent surgery.
Small round pill-shaped batteries (from watches, toys) have an electrode inside, which can give a discharge in the stomach, esophagus or intestines, which injures the organ.

Sad statistics show that every year millions of foreign bodies enter the gastrointestinal tract, and a significant proportion of these patients are children. This occurs as a result of careless handling of small objects, parental oversight, or, in rare cases, intentionally.

What to do and how not to get confused if you and your child are in such a situation?

Risk factors

Foreign bodies in the upper gastrointestinal tract are common. And, despite the fact that 80-90% of foreign bodies pass through the gastrointestinal tract without any problems, a significant number of children die from them every year.

Most often in children, the diagnosis of "foreign body of the gastrointestinal tract" is made in early childhood from 1 to 3 years. Why?

The fact is that this is the most inquisitive and active period in children. In the second year of life, children quickly begin to move and explore territories and objects that were previously inaccessible to them, some of which must be strictly located in a place inaccessible to children. After all, the child needs to turn and examine the object from all sides, be sure to smell it, and most importantly, determine the degree of edibility of an object.

Many parents believe that from one to three is the most wonderful age period. Of course, he brings them great pleasure from communicating with his child, but it also requires more care and control. At this age, the pace of neuropsychic development is very high, the child quickly acquires skills - he learns to take a mug himself, handle a spoon and fork, dress, in a word - take care of himself.

But along with these skills, other abilities develop as well. The kid learns to open various drawers, boxes, unscrew the lids, substitute a chair and reach for all kinds of shelves, where there are a large number of different things that are interesting to him, some of which are potentially dangerous for the child. And such an acquaintance is often too close, threatening his health.

Another important feature of this age is the unconsciousness of children. After all, not always the child is aware of what can and cannot be done - and curiosity turns out to be stronger than prohibitions. The main questions for children are: “why?”, “why?”. And they, of course, need to check everything on their own in practice. The combination of all these features explains the high level of injuries, accidents in everyday life and good knowledge of the problem of foreign bodies by doctors, including the gastrointestinal tract.

How do foreign bodies enter the child's body?

Most often, foreign bodies enter the gastrointestinal tract of a child by accident. During play, they are involuntarily swallowed as soon as the child becomes distracted and loses control of the object he is holding in his mouth. Usually these are small things - toys or their parts, coins, buttons. It can also be large pieces of food, bones from fruits. Often, children, fearing punishment, hide this fact from their parents, and if the child has no complaints, the foreign body can be detected very slowly or not detected at all, because. in most cases, small items come out within 2-3 days on their own. As a rule, the child does not experience any discomfort.

At the moment of swallowing, fear and a feeling of an unpleasant “lump” in the throat predominate in preschool children. If the object is of considerable size, then after swallowing, choking, nausea, and vomiting may appear.

In most cases, foreign bodies freely pass through the gastrointestinal tract, come out naturally and do not require treatment. During this period, the child needs the supervision of a specialist who can track the progress of a foreign body through the intestines. To speed up this process, doctors advise taking orally substances that promote the movement of food masses through the intestines (vegetable oil, etc.). As a rule, the foreign body comes out in 2-3 days. Parents should closely monitor the child's stool to make sure that the foreign body has come out.

Rarely, but it happens that children swallow dangerous sharp and metal objects (pins, needles, metal nails, razor blades, jewelry or fish bones), which can severely injure the wall of the esophagus, penetrate through it. In this case, there is a high probability of damage to vital organs that are anatomically closely located with the esophagus (aorta and large vessels, heart, bronchus) and the occurrence of dangerous complications, which can subsequently greatly reduce the quality of life, make the child disabled or lead to death (but such situations extremely rare).

How to detect a foreign body and what to do about it?

The clinical picture depends on the type, size, shape and location of the foreign body. More commonly, symptoms include dysphagia (impaired swallowing), odynophagia (pain when swallowing), and chest pain. With a large foreign body that causes complete obstruction (opposition to normal functioning) of the esophagus, there is profuse salivation and regurgitation.

Therefore, if parents see:

That the child has swallowed or is suspected to have swallowed a foreign body;

That the child, against the background of complete well-being, suddenly coughed, vomiting occurred, or he refuses to eat, loses consciousness;

That nothing bothers the child, but the pin that he held in his hands a minute ago disappeared without a trace - and it could not be found;

then it is necessary to urgently deliver the child to a hospital, which has a surgical, radiological, endoscopic, ultrasound department, available around the clock, and where experienced doctors work and there is a necessary arsenal of means for providing medical care.

In such a situation, in no case should you engage in self-treatment - rinse the stomach, feed, give any medications. First of all, the issue of the speedy delivery of the child to the hospital should be decided.

It is very dangerous if a battery turns out to be a foreign body. In the stomach containing hydrochloric acid, the battery, oxidizing and releasing aggressive substances, can cause damage due to chemical burns. Ulcers can form at this site and life-threatening complications can occur. Small disc batteries are especially dangerous in the esophagus, where they can quickly cause coliquation necrosis (chemical burns when exposed to alkali on the esophageal mucosa) and perforation (rupture of the esophagus). Therefore, the sooner the child is taken to the hospital, the better.

Methods for removing a foreign body

After the child is delivered to the hospital, a pediatrician and a surgeon should examine the child in the admission department, if necessary, additional examinations are carried out: x-ray (but only metal foreign bodies, stones and some types of glass are visible on the x-ray, and plastic, wooden objects are not detected due to material texture), endoscopic or ultrasonic. A diagnosis is made and the level of presence of a foreign body is determined, along with the issue of the need for hospitalization and emergency intervention.

In 99% of cases, a foreign body in the gastrointestinal tract can be removed endoscopically, using a special device. This is possible if the foreign body is not below the duodenum or in the large intestine. Necessarily performed premedication (preliminary drug preparation of the patient for the introduction of anesthesia) and general anesthesia. In this case, the child will not only remember nothing and endure the procedure painlessly, but will also allow the doctor to calmly do his job. Extraction of a foreign body occurs with the help of gastroscopy and examination of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum using a flexible fiber-optic device or colonoscopy and examination of the rectum with a fibrocolonoscope. Moreover, an endoscopic loop, basket or clamp is passed through the endoscope to extract the foreign body.

After anesthesia, the child must be observed in the hospital for at least a day. In some cases, there is no need for anesthesia, this issue is resolved by the surgeon and endoscopist. Sometimes a foreign body can be pushed through the apparatus and in the future, taking a laxative will help it leave the body faster in a natural way. According to statistics, it is possible to remove foreign bodies endoscopically in 97.6-99% of cases. If it was not possible to remove the foreign body endoscopically, a laparoscopic (through a small, usually 0.5-1.5 cm incision) or abdominal surgery is performed, which is always more traumatic for the body and is associated with a much larger number of possible complications.

Prevention of a foreign body entering the child's body

To reduce the risk of a foreign body entering the child's body, you should not leave him alone unattended, and also expose objects that are potentially dangerous for the child and thereby provoke the child. It is necessary to remove household chemicals, tools, and various trifles in a place inaccessible to the baby.

Also You should be extremely careful when choosing toys for your child. They must be chosen taking into account the age of the baby - for the smallest, quite simple, large, bright, without small and easily breaking parts of the toy are suitable. You need to buy them only in children's stores or specialized children's departments. The tag must indicate the manufacturer, material and age of the child for which it is designed. Quality is guaranteed in genuine toys, because the most important thing is the safety of your baby. Fake toys are cheaper, but often they are of poor quality and will quickly break down before your baby can be happy. In any case, your approach to this issue should be reasonable.

Krasavin A.V., chief physician of the children's polyclinic "Markushka",
pediatric gastroenerologist, endoscopist.

Toddlers are creatures that require constant attention and control. As soon as they have learned to crawl and walk, reach shelves and drawers, parents need to remember that the child is exploring the world with his hands and mouth, which means that there is a high probability of putting something in this very mouth and swallowing or inhaling. The condition when a child swallows or inhales a foreign body can be dangerous to life and health. Therefore, it is necessary to know how it manifests itself, what is dangerous and what to do.

Foreign bodies in the digestive system

In pediatric surgery, foreign bodies, especially in babies of the first years of life, are not uncommon, doctors even collect their own museums of what is found in the body of children. According to statistics, every fourth child aged from one year to 5-6 years swallowed foreign objects at least once in his life, greatly frightening his parents.

Putting toys and objects into the mouth is one of the stages in the development of the baby, the “oral stage” of learning the world, so the child receives information about the shape, properties and taste of objects. And the task of parents is to make the knowledge of the world by mouth safe. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully monitor what gets into the hands and mouth of the baby: these should be large objects and safe surfaces. However, we are all people, we are often forgetful and absent-minded, and it is not always possible to keep track of the crumbs.

Most often, foreign objects fall during games, if the baby is very interested in some object. The outcome will depend on the size, shape, surface and type of object, not all of them are dangerous for the baby. Small foreign bodies can freely leave the body themselves. Parents will be happy to discover the loss at the bottom of the pot. However, there is always a chance that the swallowed object will get stuck in the esophagus or intestines. Only sufficiently large or complex objects can remain in the stomach.

If a foreign body is in the esophagus

This is a very dangerous situation, as the child's esophagus is very sensitive and vulnerable. In addition, it has muscle groups that, when irritated by the edges of the object, can spasm and lead to complications. Therefore, you need to know what should alert you to the well-being of the child. First of all, when swallowing, the child will complain of pain, and he will point to the sternum and inside the chest. In addition, while swallowing saliva, he will complain of discomfort, and solid food may not even be able to swallow. Dangerous in babies is the appearance of nausea and vomiting, as well as the occurrence of coughing. If such symptoms occur in a child, immediately contact the nearest hospital, conduct an examination. Delay with such symptoms is dangerous by perforation (hole formation) of the esophagus with bleeding and food masses entering the chest area - this is life threatening.

Foreign body in the digestive system

Often, when parents discover that the baby has swallowed something, but it does not manifest itself outwardly, does not cause discomfort, then mom and dad choose expectant tactics. However, it is not always possible to wait for the release of a foreign body, even if the baby is outwardly healthy. There is a category of items that are dangerous by the very fact of being in the digestive system, waiting for them to appear in a pot is very dangerous for health, and sometimes even for the life of a crumb.

So, potentially dangerous, and therefore requiring the immediate help of a specialist, include:

needles, pins, push pins, paper clips, toothpicks, fishhooks, cloves, and other very sharp and small items
objects from three centimeters in length
batteries and batteries of any type and type - watch, finger, little finger, from toys
magnets, especially if the child swallowed not one, but several pieces
glass, pieces of ceramic with sharp edges
large seeds from fruits - peach, apricot, plum

It is possible to observe the child if he swallowed a streamlined object (buttons, rounded stones, balls, coins) and a small size. Then the waiting period will be from one to 3-4 days with a constant careful study of the child's stool. If during this time the object is not found in the contents of the pot, you should consult a doctor.

In the case when you did not see the process of swallowing with your own eyes (for example, you scattered and pulled coins into your mouth), it would be useful to carefully examine the apartment. Perhaps the object rolled under the sofa or closet, and you do not need to worry.

What is possible and what is not?

A common mistake parents make is giving the child a series of enemas, or using laxatives to make the item come out faster. This is unacceptable, since a foreign body in itself is a stress for the digestive system, and the acceleration of its work can lead to injury to the organs by the edges of the object, or its getting stuck in the intestine and the formation of intestinal obstruction.

If you are sure that the child has swallowed a dangerous object, call an ambulance and do not attempt to remove it yourself before it arrives, so as not to cause additional injury. You should not try to shake out the object, push it further with a crust of bread, you should not water and feed the child (if the object is large, has sharp edges and needs to be removed).

If it is a small coin, a button or a small ball, an object with smooth edges, up to 1-2 cm in size, some measures can help the child remove a foreign object from the body - this is, for example, eating foods rich in fiber - fruits, vegetables or bran.

If you are not sure that the item was swallowed, and also if you do not know exactly what the baby swallowed, carefully monitor his condition for three days, if any disturbing symptoms appear, immediately contact the surgeons at the children's hospital for help. These dangers include:

pain in the abdomen, localized or diffuse, which does not subside, but, on the contrary, intensifies
the child has nausea, vomiting, usually repeated
the child has blood in the stool that occurs after a bowel movement or between them
any other unexplained symptom that was not present before the child swallowed the object

All these manifestations require immediate examination, it is better to play it safe, and thereby avoid danger.

Foreign body in the respiratory system

From the mouth, a foreign body can fall either into the esophagus or into the respiratory tract. The latter circumstance is much more dangerous, as it leads to a violation of the supply of oxygen to the lungs. A feature of the child's respiratory tract is that they look like branching tubes of decreasing diameter. The entrance to the larynx is carried out through the vocal cords, which are tightly closed and will not allow the foreign body to come out. In addition, the child's trachea and bronchi are pliable and soft; when coughing, a foreign body can be "knocked" into them. If the body is large enough to block the windpipe, suffocation and death can occur. When it enters a large bronchus, various degrees of respiratory failure are formed.

Most often, children from a year to 3-5 years old suffer, who are pulled into their mouths, and in addition, this often happens when playing, pampering, laughing, crying, talking at the table. Most often, seeds, nuts, pieces of food, beans, cereals, seeds, husks, small toys, balls, sweets, threads enter the respiratory system.

How does it manifest itself?

The right bronchus suffers more often, it is wider and larger, therefore, paroxysmal coughing, weakening of breathing, and a lot of whistling noises in the lungs are primarily noted. In addition, there is a sign of severe stenosis of the upper respiratory tract - suffocation with lengthening of inspiration, blue face, foreign body sensation and hoarse voice. If a foreign body is stuck in the trachea, clapping may be heard when screaming or crying. In addition, a foreign body is also dangerous with complications - especially if it is food products with oil or fat. Chemical bronchitis, pneumonia, purulent abscess may develop. If a foreign body perforates the bronchus, this can lead to mediastinitis - a purulent inflammation of the chest cavity, life-threatening.

If you find such symptoms, immediately call an ambulance or go to the hospital yourself. Do not try to remove the foreign body yourself if the child can breathe, just do not hold back the cough.

If the child turns blue, there are attacks of suffocation, urgently call for resuscitation, and before her arrival, try to remove the foreign body with some tricks.

For a child up to a year
Place it with your stomach on the forearm of your hand, supporting your chin and back, face down, head at about a 60 degree angle down. With the edge of the palm, apply about 5 blows between the shoulder blades, look into the mouth for a foreign body. If there is no result, we put the child with his back on his knees, placing his head below the level of the priests, we produce 4-5 pushes just below the nipples of the chest, without pressing on the stomach, if the body comes out, we remove it. If all else fails, before the ambulance arrives, try to carry out artificial ventilation of the lungs and repeat the techniques.

For a child over one year old
Go behind the baby, wrap your arms around his waist, press on the stomach between the navel and the xiphoid process. It is necessary to make a sharp push up, 4-5 times with an interval of 3-5 seconds, if the foreign body comes out, it is removed. If not - carry out repeated actions, soothe the child.

How are they treated?

Children with foreign bodies are hospitalized in the pediatric surgical department. First of all, they clarify where the foreign body is stuck and what its character is. If it is an iron, radiopaque body, it is easy to detect on an x-ray. But food and plastic cannot be seen on x-rays. Often, for diagnosis and simultaneous treatment, endoscopy of the digestive or respiratory system is used. A thin tube with a camera and forceps at the end is inserted into the esophagus, stomach and intestines, their walls and contents are examined, the body is grasped and taken out. The procedure is sometimes performed even without anesthesia.

Everything is more complicated with the bronchi - all manipulations there are done only under anesthesia, otherwise the glottis will close and will not let the apparatus through. After that, the child is monitored, and if necessary, antibiotics are prescribed to prevent infection of the bronchi and lungs.

Precautionary measures

Most often, such incidents are the result of parental carelessness. Therefore, as soon as the baby begins to crawl, walk on all fours throughout the apartment and remove all small and dangerous objects from his access zone. Buy toys by age, without small parts and durable, which the baby will not be able to break or break. Do not leave your child to play with coins, buttons, cereals unattended. If you need to leave the room, carefully inspect the toys, but rather take the baby with you. Do not let the playing baby out of your line of sight!

From about 7 months old, babies begin to put various toys and objects into their mouths. This is caused by the desire to massage the gums to get rid of itching during teething. Seniors can taste something unusual. Between the ages of 1 and 3 years, about 20% of children swallow some small items. How to understand that a child has swallowed a foreign object, the pediatrician will tell. Employees of the Daughters-Sonochki online store will help you choose safe teethers.

Signs that a child has swallowed a foreign object

To prevent the baby from pulling small items into his mouth, provide him, especially during the period of the appearance of the first teeth, with safe teethers. Perfect model "Giraffe", made of environmentally friendly plastic.

If an infant puts something inedible into its mouth, parents should immediately remove the foreign body. If the baby swallowed a tiny product, without sharp parts, he could only choke. Swallowing a large, toxic, or sharp object in the throat and esophagus causes pain and nausea. There may be severe vomiting and traces of blood in the stool.

Symptoms if a child has swallowed a foreign object:

anxiety caused by abdominal pain;
nausea and vomiting;
frequent belching and profuse salivation;
admixture of blood in the feces;
refusal of any food;
fever (reason - intoxication);
bad mood, crying.

If at least one of these symptoms is detected, an ambulance should be called. Small buttons and parts from a rattle can pass out of the body naturally. To be sure, check the contents of the diaper. If the baby is not naughty and behaves in the usual way, you can wait, but no more than two days.

Important!

How to determine if a child has swallowed a foreign object? When children still cannot or are afraid to answer the question of their parents, it is necessary to undergo an examination: do an ultrasound, x-ray or endoscopy. It is necessary to examine the respiratory tract, esophagus and gastrointestinal tract.

Previously, the baby must be shown to the pediatrician. Doing an enema at home, inducing vomiting or giving laxatives is strictly prohibited. This will spoil the complete picture before the examination.

conclusions

How do you know if a child has swallowed a foreign object? This can be indicated by vomiting, nausea, crying from severe abdominal pain, mucus or blood in the stool, as well as profuse salivation, high fever, and lack of appetite. In the presence of such signs, you should immediately go to the doctor. Negative consequences can be avoided if you offer your baby educational toysthat do not disassemble and do not contain sharp parts.