Can you survive eating a battery?

Q: Can you live after eating a battery?

The Bottom Line. Swallowed batteries burn through a childs esophagus in just 2 hours, leading to surgery, months with feeding and breathing tubes, and even death. About the size of a nickel, 20 mm, 3-volt lithium coin cells are the most hazardous as they are big enough to get stuck and burn faster.

SATURDAY, May 18, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors might want to be more aggressive about treating children who swallow a button battery and appear to be out of danger, a preliminary study suggests.

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Do you have a remote for your car? Remote controls in your home? Hearing aids? Watches?
Can you live after eating a battery?
What would happen if I swallowed batteries?

The small, round batteries -- found in everything from watches to remote controls to toys -- have become an increasingly common cause of young children's trips to the emergency room.

"Button batteries are everywhere," said lead researcher Dr. Racha Khalaf. "And they're small and shiny, and attractive to kids."

Whenever a child swallows a battery -- or might have swallowed one -- parents should get to the hospital right away.

The biggest worry is a battery stuck in the esophagus, according to Khalaf, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora.

When that happens, the battery can quickly burn through the tissue there and cause serious, or even fatal, damage. So doctors act right away, threading an endoscope down into the throat to remove the battery.

The situation is different if X-rays show the battery has moved into the stomach. If it's not causing symptoms, guidelines say doctors can wait to see if the child passes it naturally.

But in the latest study, Khalaf's team found that even in symptom-free children, button batteries that make it into the stomach can damage the lining there. That suggests doctors should consider removing them in those cases, too, the researchers said.

The findings are based on records from 68 children treated at four pediatric hospitals between 2014 and 2018. All had an endoscopy procedure to retrieve a button battery from the stomach. Many had no symptoms when they arrived at the hospital.

Overall, Khalaf's team found, 60 percent of the children showed some erosive damage to the stomach lining.

"We saw one major adverse event," Khalaf said.

In that case, she explained, the battery created a hole in the child's stomach because it sat there for so long. (Doctors estimated it had been there for nearly five days.)

But even in less-severe cases of stomach-lining erosion, Khalaf said, the concern is that the damage could progress: Doctors can't know if or when the battery will pass.

Button batteries are a concern both because they can cause severe injury -- and because of their ubiquity in home products, according to Dr. Danielle Orsagh-Yentis, a pediatric gastroenterology fellow at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

In a study published in the May issue of Pediatrics, Orsagh-Yentis and colleagues found that about 100 U.S. children per day land in the ER after accidentally swallowing a foreign object. The rate is almost double what it was in the mid-1990s.

There was a rise in ingestions of batteries, specifically -- and a button battery was to blame almost 9 times out of 10.

The new findings, Orsagh-Yentis said, suggest that button batteries may cause stomach erosion more often than doctors think.

"The findings are interesting, and as clinicians we need to reflect on them," said Orsagh-Yentis, who was not involved in the new research. "They underscore a need for vigilance in managing these cases."

However, she said, this type of study -- a review of patient records -- cannot prove that removing button batteries from the stomach rather than letting nature take its course actually improves kids' outcomes.

In addition, any medical procedure has potential risks. Removing a battery via endoscope does carry a small risk of bleeding or perforation, Khalaf noted.

For parents, she said, the most important thing is to prevent these incidents in the first place: Always store battery packs in a safe place where kids can't reach them. And when replacing a battery, dispose of the old one properly -- never leave it lying around.

If your child does swallow a battery -- or you think he or she has -- get medical care right away, Khalaf stressed.

Khalaf was to present the findings Saturday at the annual Digestive Disease Week meeting, in San Diego. Studies presented at meetings are generally considered preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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SOURCES: Racha Khalaf, M.D., pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition fellow, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora; Danielle Orsagh-Yentis, M.D., pediatric gastroenterology fellow, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio; May 18, 2019, presentation, Digestive Disease Week, San Diego

Each year, more than 3,500 swallowing cases of all sizes and types of button batteries are reported to U.S. poison control centers.

The number of cases where children have been seriously hurt or have died quadrupled in five years (2006-2010) compared to the five years prior (2001-2005).

When a coin lithium button battery gets stuck in a child’s throat, the saliva triggers an electrical current. This causes a chemical reaction that can severely burn the esophagus in as little as two hours.

Symptoms of coin-sized button battery ingestion may be similar to other childhood illnesses, such as coughing, drooling, and discomfort.

Once burning begins, damage can continue even after the battery is removed.

Prevention

Kids under 4 are at the greatest risk. Many coin-sized button batteries can appear “invisible” to parents because devices come with the batteries already installed.

Keep your children safe:

Look in your home for any items that may contain coin-sized button batteries.
Place devices out of sight and out of reach of small children.
Keep loose or spare batteries locked away.
Share this life-saving information with caregivers, friends, family members and sitters.

Treatment

Keeping these batteries locked away and secured in devices is key, but if a coin-sized button battery is swallowed, you should follow these steps:

Go to the emergency room immediately. Tell doctors and nurses that it might be a coin-sized button battery.
If possible, provide the medical team with the identification number found on the battery’s package.
Do not let the child eat or drink until an X-ray can determine if a battery is present.
Do not induce vomiting.

Do you have a remote for your car? Remote controls in your home? Hearing aids? Watches?

Your child is in very real danger if you do not guard these items safely, since many contain button batteries. If swallowed, stuck in an ear or a nose, your child only has a couple of hours before permanent, even deadly, damage is done. Button batteries can be found in small remotes, car key fobs, mini remotes that control MP3 speakers, calculators, bathroom scales, reading lights, flameless candles, talking and singing books, singing greeting cards, watches, thermometers, hearing aids, flashing jewelry, ornaments, games and toys.

If a coin lithium button battery gets stuck in a child’s throat, the saliva triggers an electrical current. This causes a chemical reaction that can severely burn the esophagus in as little as two hours. Damage can continue even after the battery is removed. Repairing the damage is painful and can require a feeding tube, breathing tubes and multiple surgeries. Spotting the problem is difficult. Children can usually breathe with the battery in their throat.

Take a few minutes to place a piece of duct tape over the battery cover to prevent small children from accessing the battery. Make sure that your purse and the bags of visitors are stored securely away from a child's reach.

Carefully review your home as well as the homes of any caregivers for possible dangers from devices with button batteries. Ensure that the devices are kept out of sight and reach of children. Share this life-saving information with caregivers, friends, family members, and sitters. It could save a life.

If you suspect your child has ingested a battery, go to the emergency room immediately and quickly make them aware of your situation. Don’t induce vomiting or have your child eat or drink anything until assessed by a medical professional.

Enter the National Poison Center Hotline (1-800-222-1222) into your phone right now. Call anytime for advice and treatment information.

Can you live after eating a battery?

The Bottom Line. Swallowed batteries burn through a child's esophagus in just 2 hours, leading to surgery, months with feeding and breathing tubes, and even death. About the size of a nickel, 20 mm, 3-volt lithium coin cells are the most hazardous as they are big enough to get stuck and burn faster.

What would happen if I swallowed batteries?

Batteries stuck in the throat cause an electric current and can leak corrosive chemicals, like alkaline electrolyte. These corrosive chemicals can cause internal damage due to the buildup of hydroxide, a chemical that can cause dangerous burns within a couple of hours.