Unwitnessed Foreign Body Ingestion Causing Significant Morbidity in a Pediatric Patient Who Died During Resuscitation Secondary to Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Abstract

Foreign body (FB) ingestion is a common presenting complaint to the emergency department in the pediatric age group; however, management and intervention vary based on the object ingested, location, time since ingestion, and clinical presentation. One of the rare presentations of foreign body ingestion is extreme complications such as upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding that requires urgent resuscitation and might need surgical intervention. We urge critical healthcare providers to consider foreign body ingestion in the differential diagnosis of acute unexplained upper gastrointestinal bleeding and maintain a high index of suspicion, and they must endeavor to obtain a complete history.

Keywords: esophageal perforation; foreign body ingestion; morbidity; pediatric; upper gastrointestinal bleeding.