Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Case of the week: 21 month old with stridor

Swallowed disk battery.

The ingestion of disk batteries is particularly important because saliva acts as an electrolyte bath, causing batteries to corrode and leak a solution of sodium or potassium hydroxide.  This caustic solution causes rapid destruction of the esophageal wall, extensive edema, and narrowing of the adjacent airway.

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