digestive disorders
Foreign Bodies in the Digestive Tract
Treatment of Foreign Bodies in the Digestive Tract
For foreign bodies in the esophagus,glucagonor endoscopy For foreign bodies in the stomach, endoscopy For foreign bodies in the intestines, occasionally endoscopic or surgical removal For foreign bodies in the rectum, manual or endoscopic removal Some foreign bodies pass spontaneously and require no treatment. Sometimes a doctor recommends that the person consume a lot of liquids to help excrete the object. Some small objects, such as toothpicks and fish bones, may remain in the gastrointestinal tract for many years without causing symptoms. People who do not have symptoms of obstruction and who have not ingested a sharp object, disk or button batteries, or drug packets are observed by a doctor for up to 24 hours to see whether the object passes on its own. When a doctor suspects that a piece of food is stuck in the esophagus, the medicationglucagonmay be given by vein (intravenously) to relax the esophagus and allow the food to pass spontaneously through the digestive tract. A doctor typically removes a foreign body that has not passed out of the esophagus within 24 hours because a delay in removal increases the risk of complications, including perforation, and decreases the likelihood of a successful removal. Doctors can remove some objects that are stuck in the esophagus by pushing them into the stomach using an endoscope or by removing them with forceps, a net, or a basket passed through an endoscope. Because sharp objects may pierce the wall of the esophagus, they must be removed urgently by Endoscopy . Batteries must also be removed urgently from the esophagus because they can cause internal burns. Doctors typically do endoscopy to remove sharp objects from the stomach because they can cause perforation. Doctors also do endoscopy to remove Batteries that cause symptoms or signs of stomach injury Any objects that have been in the stomach longer than 3 to 4 weeks Batteries that have been in the stomach for more than 48 hours but have not caused injury Objects that are larger than 1 inch (about 2.5 centimeters) in diameter in the stomach Any magnets that can be reached with the endoscope Small, round objects, such as coins, may pass on their own. Doctors advise people to check their stool to see if the object has passed. If the object does not appear in the stool, doctors do repeated x-rays to check whether the object has passed. Foreign bodies that exit the stomach and pass into the small intestine usually pass the digestive tract with no problems. However, if a short, blunt object is stuck in the small intestine for more than 1 week and cannot be removed with endoscopy or the person has symptoms of intestinal obstruction, doctors may remove it surgically. When an object suspected of being filled with drugs is detected in a person who does not have symptoms, the person is hospitalized and closely monitored in an Types of units (ICU). Doctors may do surgery if the person has Symptoms of intestinal obstruction Symptoms of drug overdose (suggesting the object is leaking drugs) Not passed the object after a considerable time Doctors usually do not do endoscopy to remove a drug-filled object because there is a high risk it may break open during removal and cause a serious overdose. A foreign body in the rectum may be removed endoscopically or manually depending on the type of object. Sometimes manual removal will require the person's anus to be numbed with injections of a Local anesthesia and regional anesthesia and held open with a special instrument. Doctors are then able to use forceps to grasp and remove the object. This procedure may require heavy sedation. After removal of a foreign body, doctors may look in the rectum and in the lower part of the colon using a flexible tube called a sigmoidoscope to rule out injury or perforation. 