Serious question not a joke

sharann · Jun 28, 2006 11:18 PM

OR nurses, have you any experience with people who swallow foreign objects, namely Double A batteries(like 7 of them), confirmed by radiology. Do surgeons need to operate on an asymptomatic patient with no sign of obstruction or just let nature pass it along?
We had a case like this where 2 surgeons were astonished that doc #3 wanted to go in an open a patient and advised him not to. He did anyway.
Just curious.
Thank you

nursemelani · Jun 28, 2006, 11:21 PM

Originally Posted by sharann

OR nurses, have you any experience with people who swallow foreign objects, namely Double A batteries(like 7 of them), confirmed by radiology. Do surgeons need to operate on an asymptomatic patient with no sign of obstruction or just let nature pass it along?
We had a case like this where 2 surgeons were astonished that doc #3 wanted to go in an open a patient and advised him not to. He did anyway.
Just curious.
Thank you

Depends on the foriegn object. I know that batteries contain corrosive chemicals that could do a lot of damage to someones insides. If it were something more benign, they would probably wait for it to pass.

*suzanne4* · Jul 01, 2006, 11:58 AM

Usually will let it pass naturally. You have to take into consideration the surgical risk that gets added into the equation.

And if someone is silly enough to swallow batteries, then they are not going to be the best post-op patient to be caring for to start with.

*Marie_LPN, RN* · Jul 01, 2006, 01:16 PM

Batteries out because of the acid.

We get more adults that have swallowed pencil erasers, paper clips, dollar bill (one time) and coins, than children.

If it's not going to cause harm, then it's allowed to pass.

Serious question not a joke

Serious question not a joke

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