Coin(s) in Esophagus

Extraction Case

Coins are the most common foreign body requiring removal under general anaesthesia. When an xray suggests that an esophageal foreign body is a coin, it is essential to verify that the foreign body is not a disc battery (which would burn the esophagus). Occasionally, a toddler will swallow more than one coin, as the last xray demonstrates.

A coin rarely causes airway obstruction; but when it does, the obstruction can be severe.

Extraction Video

Coins (and other esophageal foreign bodies) usually lodge just below the upper esophageal sphincter (a.k.a. the cricopharyngeus muscle).

Did You Know?!

A 2013 report stated that, from 2001 to 2009, an average of 12,435 children (14 years old or younger) per year were treated in US Emergency Rooms because of food-related choking.[Ref:1]