Did You Know?!
The majority of deaths from choking and suffocation occur in the first year of life.[Ref:43]
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.
Coins (and other esophageal foreign bodies) usually lodge just below the upper esophageal sphincter (a.k.a. the cricopharyngeus muscle).
The majority of deaths from choking and suffocation occur in the first year of life.[Ref:43]