1. Management of lead foreign body ingestion
- Author
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Lynn F. Durback, David E. Seidler, and Gregory P. Wedin
- Subjects
Lead intoxication ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Pediatrics ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,Toxicology ,Lead poisoning ,Intestine, Small ,medicine ,Ingestion ,Humans ,Child ,Foreign Body Ingestion ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,Stomach ,medicine.disease ,Foreign Bodies ,Surgery ,Lead Poisoning ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,El Niño ,Lead ,Blood lead level ,Female ,Foreign body ,business ,Digestive System - Abstract
Previous reports of lead foreign body (PbFB) ingestion by children include two cases of lead intoxication and two cases that resulted in death. It is generally accepted, however, that PbFB ingestion does not pose a risk of lead toxicity, provided that the PbFB is not retained in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Recent experience with two cases substantiates this belief. On separate occasions, two 9-year old girls ingested a PbFB. The first patient developed only mild, vague GI complaints. The highest reported blood lead level (BLL) was 15 mcg/dl. The second patient did not develop symptoms, and the highest reported BLL was 22 mcg/dl. Both patients passed the PbFB in the stool within two weeks. These cases suggest that PbFB ingestions can be treated in a manner similar to other uncomplicated foreign body ingestions.
- Published
- 1989