Airway injuries are a severe consequence of ingesting button batteries (BBs), according to a review published in JAMA Otolaryngology -Head and Neck Surgery. Justine Philteos, MD, and colleagues conducted a systematic review of studies with pediatric patients who developed airway injuries after BB ingestion, including 195 patients (95 male) with a mean age at ingestion of 17.8 months and mean time from ingestion to removal of 5.8 days. Tracheoesophageal fistulae and vocal cord paralyses (155 and 39 [16 unilateral and 23 bilateral], respectively) were the most common airway sequelae. Vocal cord paralysis occurred after a shorter mean duration of ingestion compared with that of the general cohort (17.8 vs 138.7 hours). Subsequent tracheoesophageal fistula or vocal cord paralysis was likely among children with airway symptoms. “Prioritization of timely BB removal is essential to decrease the devastating consequences of these injuries,” the authors wrote.
