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Two Year Old With Water Bead Ingestion
Jami Jackson1, Kimberly A Randell, Jane F Knapp
1From the Children's Mercy Hospital and Clinics, Kansas City, MO.
Insights
Superabsorbent water beads can cause pediatric intestinal obstruction. Nonsurgical management with whole bowel irrigation successfully treated an asymptomatic child who ingested many beads, offering a new approach.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Toxicology
Background:
- Foreign body ingestion is frequent in children.
- Superabsorbent water beads pose a risk for intestinal obstruction, as seen in prior surgical cases.
- Management of multiple water bead ingestion is not well-established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the nonsurgical management of a child with multiple superabsorbent water bead ingestion.
- To highlight whole bowel irrigation as a potential treatment for asymptomatic cases.
Main Methods:
- A case report of an asymptomatic child ingesting approximately 100 superabsorbent water beads.
- Admission for observation and whole bowel irrigation.
Main Results:
- The child remained asymptomatic throughout the management.
- Whole bowel irrigation was successfully performed without complications.
- This represents the first reported case of whole bowel irrigation for multiple superabsorbent water bead ingestion in an asymptomatic child.
Conclusions:
- Whole bowel irrigation can be a safe and effective nonsurgical option for asymptomatic pediatric patients with significant superabsorbent water bead ingestion.
- This approach may prevent the need for surgical intervention in select cases.
Abstract:
Foreign body ingestion is a common pediatric complaint. Two case reports describe intestinal obstruction in children from an ingestion of a single superabsorbent water ball, requiring surgical removal. We describe nonsurgical management of an asymptomatic child who ingested approximately 100 superabsorbent water beads.Because of the risk for subsequent intestinal obstruction, the patient was admitted for whole bowel irrigation. This case report is the first describing use of whole bowel irrigation in the management of an asymptomatic patient with multiple water beads ingestion.