INTRODUCTION: Foreign body (FB) ingestion is a common paediatric emergency. While guidelines exist for urgent intervention, less is known of the natural progress of FBs passing through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). We reviewed these FB transit times in an outpatient cohort. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed on all children (≤18 years) treated for radiopaque FB ingestion at two major tertiary paediatric centres from 2015 to 2016. Demographic data, FB types, outcomes and hospital visits (emergency department [ED] and outpatient) were recorded. All cases discharged from the ED with outpatient follow-up were included. We excluded those who were not given follow-up appointments and those admitted to inpatient wards. We categorised the outcomes into confirmed passage (ascertained via abdominal X-ray or reported direct stool visualisation by patients/caregivers) and assumed passage (if patients did not attend follow-up appointments). RESULTS: Of the 2,122 ED visits for FB ingestion, 350 patients who were given outpatient follow-up appointments were reviewed (median age 4.35 years [range: 0.5-14.7], 196 [56%] male). The largest proportion (16%) was aged 1-2 years. Coins were the most common ingested FB, followed by toys. High-risk FB (magnets or batteries) formed 9% of cases ( n =33). The 50 th centile for FB retention was 8, 4 and 7 days for coins, batteries and other radiopaque FBs, respectively; all confirmed passages occurred at 37, 7 and 23 days, respectively. Overall, 197 (68%) patients defaulted on their last given follow-up. CONCLUSION This study provides insight into the transit times of FB ingested by children, which helps medical professionals to decide on the optimal time for follow-up visits and provide appropriate counsel to caregivers.
Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Eating ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Foreign Bodies/diagnostic imaging* ; Gastrointestinal Tract/diagnostic imaging* ; Gastrointestinal Transit ; Retrospective Studies ; Singapore ; Tertiary Care Centers

Growth is an indicator of the health and nutritional status of infants and children. Health organisations and professionals worldwide advocate monitoring the growth of children with the primary aim of identifying and preventing malnutrition and/or obesity. Growth monitoring should be part of every health care consultation for children. However, physicians during health care consultations are often so busy addressing acute health issues, that they miss the opportunity to monitor the child's growth and provide anticipatory guidance. Appropriate growth monitoring would enable health care providers to detect abnormal growth in a timely manner, as well as to reassure parents if their concerns are unfounded. To perform this effectively, physicians need to be familiar with measurement methods, use of appropriate growth charts and interpretation of results. As weight, height and growth rates may vary among children, physicians also need to understand what constitutes normal growth. This paper aims to clarify the purpose of growth monitoring and provide recommendations for physicians to assess, monitor and manage growth in infants and children in a primary care setting.
Body Mass Index ; Child Development ; physiology ; Child, Preschool ; Growth Charts ; Humans ; Primary Health Care