(by Francesco Brancati) (ANSA) – MILAN, JUNE 19 – Coins, nails, screws, objects that sparkle like jewels, but also magnets or small disc batteries. Children, as we know, are unpredictable: just a moment of distraction from an adult and everything ends up in the mouth.
Fortunately, in 80-90% of cases they are harmless objects, but in 10-20% of these accidents there can be consequences, in some cases even very serious or even fatal. The fact is that the rate of ingestion of foreign bodies or caustic substances – according to European and American data – has increased by 91.5% in 15 years and has almost doubled under 6 years of age. In particular, in the USA in the last 10 years there have been 30 fatal cases, in Italy 2 from 2015 to today. For this reason, the specialists of the Italian Society of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Pediatric Nutrition (Sigenp) are launching an alarm and asking the Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci to support them in the creation of the “national register of accidents due to the ingestion of foreign bodies and caustics in Italy”, first action to deal with the problem adequately. Children under the age of 6 are most exposed, because “at that age the child explores the world through the oral cavity and carries everything in his mouth”.
In particular, coins are the objects most frequently ingested (62%), batteries (lithium micropiles) represent 7% of all cases; the ingestion of caustics, especially household cleaning products and detergents, represents a third of domestic accidents, responsible for about 1,000 hospitalizations a year. “It is a worrying phenomenon – explains the president, Claudio Romano – Already in 2020 Sigenp had published recommendations addressed to pediatricians for the management of these accidents. Now we are also turning to the institutions and families to carry out the necessary prevention work”, following rules summarized in a flyer distributed through schools, hospitals, pharmacies, parent associations and, in digital form, on social networks”.
“The ingestions of disk batteries – explains Paola De Angelis, national coordinator of the Sigenp area of endoscopy – have increased by 7 times in the last 20 years. For this reason we have taken steps to inform parents in the area in a capillary manner, but also to train more endoscopists be prepared for these emergencies, so that in the Centers there is always one available when needed”. Because, she explains, endoscopy must be done as soon as possible, preferably within two hours of ingestion.
The leaflet also contains the basic notions for first aid: “First of all – explains Filippo Torroni, Sigenp manager of emergency endoscopy – it is necessary to explain not to induce vomiting in the child: in case of ingestion of caustic substances this maneuver would risk to burn the esophagus even more; even if an object is swallowed, vomiting should not be caused because it could cause the inhalation of the foreign body. In the case of ingestion of batteries, however, the administration of honey is recommended, because it protects the mucous membranes and reduces damage to the esophagus.” (HANDLE).
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