Pediatric coin ingestions. A prospective study of coin location and symptoms
J. E. Schunk, H. Corneli and R. Bolte
Division of Emergency Medicine, Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, CA 90027.
Coins are the most common esophageal foreign body in children. We
prospectively evaluated 52 consecutive children who had swallowed coins to
determine the incidence of asymptomatic esophageal coins and the rate of
spontaneous passage. All patients had a roentgenogram; coins were removed
from the esophagus if the patient was symptomatic. children with
asymptomatic esophageal coins were allowed less than 24 hours to pass the
coin to the stomach. Thirty children had esophageal coins; of these, 9
(30%) were asymptomatic. The presence of symptoms was significantly
associated with esophageal coins, but the absence of symptoms did not
reliably exclude the possibility of an esophageal coin. All children who
swallow coins should undergo roentgenographic evaluation.
