Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Children are increasingly swallowing the button batteries used in a growing number of household appliances. However, these batteries, in the shape of a small disc, are time bombs when they are activated by saliva in the esophagus. Doctors are sounding the alarm and demanding stricter rules governing their use.
At the Montreal Children’s Hospital, cases of children accidentally swallowing button batteries have tripled in recent years. Between 1991 and 2009, ERs saw an average of two or three cases of button cell battery ingestion per year. Between 2010 and 2022, the average jumped to 10 or 11 cases per year.
“These batteries are everywhere,” says Liane Fransblow, trauma coordinator at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. They are used in remote controls, key chains, flashlights, scales, flameless candles, small toys and even in musical greeting cards, she lists. “It’s an object that shines and it attracts children. »
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Liane Fransblow, trauma coordinator at the Montreal Children’s Hospital
These batteries, seemingly harmless, however, become a real poison when they are stuck in the esophagus. Activated by saliva, the batteries rapidly emit heat to the point of burning and perforating the esophagus of some small patients.
Faced with the rise in cases, the Canadian Pediatric Society asked the federal government last week that products requiring button batteries be equipped with a screw-on lid. It also required battery packaging to be childproof.
PHOTO GETTY IMAGES
Button batteries
Guide Live bettergiven to each new Quebec parent, will also be updated in 2023 to include a new section on button batteries.
More dangerous than a nail
At the CHU Sainte-Justine, the Dr Prévost Jantchou looked at the ingestion of foreign bodies by children and adolescents during the pandemic.
Between March 2018 and February 2021, 609 children presented to the emergency room of the pediatric hospital due to the ingestion of a foreign body. Button batteries (11%) were the second most commonly swallowed items by patients, behind coins (25%) and tied with small toys (11%). Jewelry (6%) and magnets (6%) followed in order.
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, THE PRESS
The Dr Prévost Jantchou from CHU Sainte-Justine
“Obviously, swallowing a nail or a screw is dangerous because it stings and it’s sharp. But button batteries are even more dangerous”, testifies the Dr Jantchou, pediatrician specializing in gastroenterology at CHU Sainte-Justine.
On his TikTok account, the very active doctor has also published a striking video of a button battery placed on a slice of ham to show the impact of ingesting a lithium battery on the esophagus. After 20 minutes, the piece of meat turns black. After a few hours, a hole appears.
“Imagine a steak on a barbecue. This is exactly what the stack does to the mucous lining of the esophagus. It burns and leaves a black mark,” says Dr.r Janchou.
In the case of a perforated esophagus, the bacterial fluid from the mouth is likely to pass through and infect the region of the rib cage located between the two lungs and containing the heart, the esophagus, the trachea and the two main bronchi. If the battery touches a blood vessel, it could cause severe bleeding. “Imagine if the battery is in contact with the aorta. It can be fatal, ”sums up the Dr Janchou.
“I have a stomach ache”
Of all the children admitted to the CHU Sainte-Justine emergency room for the ingestion of a foreign body between March 2018 and February 2021, 75% were aged 6 or under. In only 22.5% of the cases, a person had witnessed the ingestion.
Gnougon Coulibaly saw nothing when her 5-year-old son ingested a button battery one afternoon in September. When her little Kayzen told her he had a stomach ache, she didn’t worry too much until, an hour or two later, he finally confided in her, “Mom, I think it’s is because I swallowed a battery that my stomach hurts. »
PHOTO DENIS GERMAIN, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Gnougon Coulibaly and his 5-year-old son, Kayzen
I panicked ! It’s not the kind of object that you swallow, let pass and pass through the stool.
Gnougon Coulibaly, mother of Kayzen, 5 years old
The mother of the family immediately contacted the poison control center, which directed her to the CHU Sainte-Justine. After an X-ray, Kayzen was placed under general anesthesia and the battery that was stuck in his esophagus was removed.
“The doctor showed me pictures of Kayzen’s esophagus from the extraction and it had started burning around the battery. He also showed me the stack. It’s as if it had rusted. It was no longer smooth like when you take it out of a wrapper. It had started to deteriorate as if it was melting, ”explains Mme Coulibaly.
Kayzen’s esophagus was not perforated and he should come out of it without sequelae, but with a lesson in life. Since the incident, the little guy reassures his mother every day: “Mom, I didn’t put anything in my mouth. I promise you ! »
What if a child swallows a button battery?
A child who swallows a button cell battery should be treated promptly in a hospital, as batteries can cause severe tissue damage within two hours of ingestion. “If your child is over 1 year old, still able to swallow, and the incident happened less than 12 hours ago, you can give 2 teaspoons of honey every 10 minutes for a maximum of 6 teaspoons,” recommends the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Honey acts protectively on the lining of the esophagus, much like a bandage.
Learn more
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- 156
- Number of injuries involving button batteries that were reported to the Canadian Hospital Injury Reporting and Prevention System (CHIRPP), in 2021. CHIRPP injury surveillance operates in 11 pediatric hospitals and 9 general hospitals in Canada.
source: CHIRPP
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- Law Reese
- In August, US President Joe Biden passed a law requiring items that require button batteries to have childproof compartments. Manufacturers, however, have a year to comply with the law named in honor of Reese Hamsmith, an 18-month-old girl who died in December 2020 after swallowing a button cell battery from a remote control.
source : The New York Times