Cylindrical and button battery ingestion in children: a single-center experience

The purpose of our study was to perform a comparative analysis of the examination and treatment outcomes of children with cylindrical and button batteries (BB) ingestion depending on their size and anatomical locations.

This study was a retrospective analysis of 124 children aged from 1 month to 18 years who ingested batteries and were treated in a tertiary care center from January 1, 2014 to March 31, 2019. The data studied included age, sex, presenting symptoms at the time of evaluation, type and size of battery and modality of management.

Twenty-three (18.5%) patients ingested cylindrical batteries (CBs), and 101 (81.5%) ingested BBs. The duration of hospital stay was significantly longer (p = 0.004) in the group of children who ingested BBs larger than 20 mm. Endoscopic removal was performed in 75 (60.5%) children, 46 (37.1%) were followed up and three (2.4%) underwent open surgeries. Children with CBs ingestion, in 55% of cases, had gastric mucosal injuries. Children with BBs impacted in the esophagus in 96% cases had visible severe mucosal damage, whereas patients with gastric BB ingestion 19.5% had superficial gastric mucosal damage.

Performing timely endoscopic retrieval in children who are admitted early to the hospital will reduce the risk of damage to the gastrointestinal mucosa, especially in the stomach. Unlike BBs, CBs, despite their large size, have advantageous shapes, uneventfully pass the esophagus and are more often retained in the stomach; thus, mucosal injuries are more often observed in the stomach. Consequently, endoscopic extraction is the treatment of choice for children with BB ingestion.