Battery-Ingestion Epidemic

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Battery Ingestions:

- most often obtained directly from a product (61.8%)
- were loose (29.8%)
- were obtained from battery packaging (8.2%)

Of young children who ingested the most hazardous battery, the 20-mm lithium cell, 37.3% were intended for remote controls.

Adults most often ingested batteries that were sitting out, loose, or discarded (80.8%); obtained directly from a product (4.2%); obtained from battery packaging (3.0%); or swallowed within a hearing aid (12.1%). Batteries that were intended for hearing aids were implicated in 36.3% of ingestions. Batteries were mistaken for pills in 15.5% of ingestions, mostly by older adults.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/125/6/1178?rss=1

There was a 6.7-fold increase in the percentage of button battery ingestions with major or fatal outcomes from 1985 to 2009 (National Poison Data System). Ingestions of 20- to 25-mm-diameter cells increased from 1% to 18% of ingested button batteries (1990–2008), paralleling the rise in lithium-cell ingestions (1.3% to 24%).

Outcomes were significantly worse for large-diameter lithium cells (20 mm) and children who were younger than 4 years. The 20-mm lithium cell was implicated in most severe outcomes. Severe burns with sequelae occurred in just 2 to 2.5 hours. Most fatal (92%) or major outcome (56%) ingestions were not witnessed. At least 27% of major outcome and 54% of fatal cases were misdiagnosed, usually because of nonspecific presentations. Injuries extended after removal, with unanticipated and delayed esophageal perforations, tracheoesophageal fistulas, fistulization into major vessels, and massive hemorrhage.

References:

A Lithium Battery in a Hotdog: the picture burns itself into mind - keep out of reach of small children http://goo.gl/qHsBL

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/125/6/1168?rss=1

Image source: Amazon, for illustrative purposes only, NOT a suggestion to buy any product.

Ingested lithium cell batteries set up "chemical reaction" in children leading to organ perforation

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From the NYTimes:

"13-month-old boy developed what seemed like an upper respiratory infection. He lost interest in food and vomited a few times, but doctors attributed it to a virus. After nine days of severe symptoms and more doctor visits, the hospital finally ordered an X-ray to look for pneumonia.

What they found instead was totally unexpected. The child had ingested a “button” battery, one of those flat silver discs used to power remote controls, toys, musical greeting cards, bathroom scales and other home electronics.

The battery was surgically removed the next day, and Aidan was sent home. But what neither the doctors nor his parents realized was that the damage had been done. The battery’s current had set off a chemical reaction in the child’s esophagus, burning through both the esophageal wall and attacking the aorta. Two days after the battery was removed, Aidan began coughing blood, and soon died from his injuries."

A Lithium Battery in a Hotdog: the picture burns itself into mind - keep out of reach of small children http://goo.gl/qHsBL

References:

For Very Young, Peril Lurks in Lithium Cell Batteries. NYTimes.

Swallowed Objects That Went Straight Into History - NYTimes, 2011.