More
button batteries are in use as households increase the number of
electronic products they acquire, leading to more injuries, researchers
say. The shiny batteries found in remote controls, watches, musical
greeting cards and toys, are about the size of a dime – the perfect size
for a curious child to swallow or even push into the nasal cavity or
ear canal, said Dr. Kris Jatana, a pediatric head and neck surgeon at
Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. More than 3,400 cases
of battery button ingestion annually were reported to poison centers
from 2007 to 2009. It’s a challenge for physicians because children
might be asymptomatic or present with non-specific symptoms such as
irritability, fever, cough, poor oral intake and/or vomiting similar to
those of a common viral infection. Smaller batteries, such as those
found in hearing aids, will typically pass through the gastrointestinal
system on their own, but the larger batteries can get stuck, causing the
most significant injury – eroding through the esophageal wall or
airway, causing damage to nearby nerves or eroding into a major blood
vessel, Jatana said.
