Medication Summary

Although drugs such as glucagon, benzodiazepines, and nifedipine have been successfully used to relax the lower esophageal sphincter in adult patients with esophageal foreign bodies, these measures are generally unsuccessful in children.

Laxatives are occasionally prescribed to hasten the passage of intestinal foreign bodies. While they likely lead to speedier passage, this is not necessarily associated with improved health of the patient, and so laxative use is not generally recommended. Specific circumstances may exist in which laxatives may be helpful, however.

The use of meat tenderizer (papain) to attempt to digest meat impacted in the esophagus is no longer recommended. Such usage may severely injure the esophagus.

Inducing vomiting may lead to aspiration, and so should be avoided.

Follow-up

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Media Gallery

A swallowed coin lodged at the thoracic inlet. Image courtesy of Gregory Conners, MD, MPH.
A swallowed radiolucent object (plastic guitar pick) is made visible in the upper esophagus after ingestion of barium. Image courtesy of Raymond K. Tan, MD, and Gregory Conners, MD, MPH.
Lateral radiograph demonstrating the distinctive two-step profile of a button (disk) battery in the esophagus.
Frontal view of same esophageal button (disk) battery; note distinctive double-circle appearance, useful to differentiate a button battery from a coin.

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Author

Gregory P Conners, MD, MPH, MBA, FAAP, FACEP Director, Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's Mercy Hospital; Associate Chair of Pediatrics, Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine

Gregory P Conners, MD, MPH, MBA, FAAP, FACEP is a member of the following medical societies: Academic Pediatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Pediatric Society, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Mary L Windle, PharmD Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape Drug Reference

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Wayne Wolfram, MD, MPH Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Mercy St Vincent Medical Center; Chairman, Pediatric Institutional Review Board, Mercy St Vincent Medical Center, Toledo, Ohio

Wayne Wolfram, MD, MPH is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American Academy of Pediatrics, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Dale W Steele, MD, MS Professor of Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics, and Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University; Attending Physician, Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital

Dale W Steele, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Statistical Association, Society for Medical Decision Making

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Additional Contributors

Jerry R Balentine, DO, FACEP, FACOEP Vice President, Medical Affairs and Global Health, New York Institute of Technology; Professor of Emergency Medicine, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine

Jerry R Balentine, DO, FACEP, FACOEP is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, New York Academy of Medicine, American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, American Association for Physician Leadership, American Osteopathic Association

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Timothy E Corden, MD Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Co-Director, Policy Core, Injury Research Center, Medical College of Wisconsin; Associate Director, PICU, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin

Timothy E Corden, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, Phi Beta Kappa, Society of Critical Care Medicine, Wisconsin Medical Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.