It is becoming more and more common for kids to show up at emergency rooms around the U.S. because of batteries. Batteries are being swallowed and lodged in ears and noses. The number of kids who are being treated for that kind of emergency has nearly doubled in the past two decades.
Many of the trips to the ER are because of button batteries, the coin-shaped ones that are popular in remote controls, toys and hearing aids. Those batteries also carry additional risks said experts. If a child swallows them, they could become lodged in the child’s esophagus. That could start a current through the baby’s tissues, without showing any apparent injury. Doctors said there have been a number of emergency surgeries needed from batteries being lodged in children’s esophagi.
One hundred nationally representative hospitals were used that had 24-hour ERs in the study. Over 65,000 children, less than 18 years of age, had an ER visit due to a battery from 1990 to 2009. During the study period, the rate of those types of injury nearly doubled. The rate went from nearly 4 kids per 100,000 each year to close to 8 per every 100,000.
Doctor’s said that the batteries are small and shiny and children at a young age explore developmentally with their mouths. If they are not sure about what an item is, they will insert it into their mouth, said one of the researchers.
The most common worry about button batteries if they are swallowed is they can create an electrical current inside the body and burn a hole through the esophagus or trachea. That can happen even if the battery was not strong enough to be used any longer.
