Thousands of children reached an emergency department due to swallowing button batteries or Lithium coin batteries. These two batteries are not the same but their shapes are rounded, shiny, smooth, and appealing to children. These are used to supply power to many electronic devices such as calculators, toys, hearing aids, and many household items. People throw it carelessly after use. If some children see it they confuse it with candies and swallow it. Sometimes even they stuck it in their nose or ear.
Parents are not fully educated on the risk factors of batteries. They ignore or try to solve issues at home. When they come to know, it is too late to treat the child.
People, who are unaware of its danger can ask that what happens if you swallow a battery? When these batteries come in contact with body fluid or acid of the stomach, they can generate small amounts of current and their alkalies like sodium hydroxide, which are strong corrosive agents lead to organ damage where it stays. It creates vomiting with blood, perforation of the food pipe or stomach, and also neurological disorders.
What Happens If You Swallow a Battery
Rounded, small, and insignificant button battery ingestion is incredibly dangerous. Every year 3300 cases of button battery are recorded. Most cases are about children between six months to three years old. This is due to improper dumping of the used battery.
In most cases, the button battery does not stay in the GI tract and passes within 72 hours. The doctor recommended observing the stole of young children. But due to ever-increasing cases and its unpredictable result, it is better to get rid of the battery through endoscopy.
What Happens Soon After Ingestion of Button Battery
The stomach lining hurts quickly, soon after the ingestion of the button battery. That’s why doctors should consider prompt endoscopic removal. The decision of endoscopy does not need any signs and symptoms. Endoscopic examination is necessary to find out how much damage occurs due to the entry or exit of the button battery.
Erosive injuries to the mucous lining of the stomach were found in 60% of children. They show no apparent link between damage and signs and symptoms.
What Happens If You Swallow a Battery Whole
Children have a curiosity to taste everything around them. The button battery is small, slippery, and easily slides down in the stomach. Before reaching the stomach some are staying in the start or midsection of the esophagus.
About 80 % of batteries cause no problem. Button battery that lodges in the food pipe must be removed immediately. They are risky because they exert pressure on the wall of a food pipe after the leakage of caustic alkali(electrolyte), and may create an electric shock.
Chest pain, nonobvious vomiting, and epigastric pain are some common symptoms when button batteries wedge in the esophagus. Patients often refuse to eat or drink.
What Happens If You Swallow a aa Battery
AA Button is a durable cell and a combination of toxic heavy metals like lithium, mercury, zinc, and nickel. Their nature is corrosive and damages the GI tract badly.
Swallowing of a Button Battery has devastating injuries due to isothermic hydrolysis reaction. This increases the alkaline caustic injury and leads to tissue necrosis. Immediate removal of the battery is necessary to minimize the harm. In some children, injuries may occur faster even after the removal of batteries.
What Happens If You Swallow a aaa Battery
Mostly these batteries will pass through your system without harming it. In digestive acids, the casing of these batteries can start to corrode. This will explode in stomach acid and cause severe pain and perforation of the stomach wall.
Symptoms may range from mild heartburn to serious digestive issues. The aaa batteries are larger and very tough to swallow. The ratio of their accidents is less than a normal button battery.
What Happens If You Swallow a Battery Acid
Battery acid is Sulfuric acid which is a strong corrosive and dangerous acid. Though this acid is diluted (mix more than 70% water) is found even more dangerous. It will burn your gums, teeth, your gullet.
The stomach itself is a tub of acid HCl with pH 1 when combined with sulfuric acid can tear up the stomach and a person may die within a few minutes.
What To Do If You Swallow a Battery
Young children tend to put everything around them in their mouths. Sometimes even in intense care they accidentally swallow a battery. We suggest some easy ways to control the situation.
- When you come to know about the ingestion of a button battery you should not be frightened because sometimes fear makes things more difficult.
- Never induce vomiting, it will choke or the person may be terrified.
- If you have honey at your home give a 10ml dose. You give it until the child vomits or any other sign appears.
- Readily call the poison center, or take your child’s emergency right after giving him honey.
- Do not give them anything else to drink or eat.
- Reaching a hospital on time is very important even if there are no signs and symptoms.
- Take the toy or gadget with him and show it to the medical staff. They can easily recognize the type of battery and start treatment quickly.
- Do not wait for any negative signs and symptoms.
What Happens If You Swallow a Hearing Aid Battery
Never put your hearing aid on the side table or dining table. Hearing aid batteries are small and confused with candies or pills. Children put it in their mouths unknowingly. If children use hearing aids, check their safety locks. Losing a safety lock is dangerous and children may eat these batteries. They can also place them in their ear or nose.
When battery material leaks causing inflammation or perforation. Often, parents are informed about the battery when a child vomits blood. It is too late to give them medical assistance.
What Happens If You Swallow a 9 Volt Battery
The voltage of the battery cannot kill you when you lick it, you experience small currents because your tongue has nerve endings. But swallowing such a battery causes burns and pain in the mouth and esophagus.
Alkaline dry batteries have a strong corrosive nature and damage the wall of the food pipe and stomach. Sometimes injuries are observed even after the safe removal of the battery.
If you chew a battery its contents will burn your mouth and you could not speak, or eat for some time.
What happens If You Eat Lithium Battery
Lithium batteries especially those of 20 mm diameter are implicated in most serious cases.
They can be deadly if they explode in the esophagus or stomach. But fortunately, lithium battery cases are less recorded than other button batteries.
It is said that lithium-ion causes neurological disorders in children.
When this is stuck to the windpipe it causes paralysis of the vocal cord, narrowing, and stricture of the esophagus, tracheoesophageal fistula, and severe internal bleeding and holes in major blood vessels.
Frequently Asked Question
What Happens If a Man Eats a Battery?
A swallowing battery can burn the esophagus in just two hours. Surgery can not fully recover the patient. Often death is the outcome of this negligence. The size 20mm, 3-volt lithium battery is the most dangerous type because it is stuck easily and burns faster.
What If My Child Swallows a AAA Battery?
All the alkaline batteries are dangerous but that is luckily less likely only because of their large size. If your child ingests this battery it is an emergency case. Don’t waste your time and take him to the hospital.
Conclusion
Infants and small children are innocent and can’t understand their safety. Even some adults don’t know the hidden dangers lurking inside the harmless items. Button battery is one such item that is carelessly thrown on the carpet or put in a medicine box without knowing what happens if children put it in their mouth.
When symptoms of abdominal pain, chest pain, drooling, blood in stool, or blood in vomiting occur it may directly indicate that your child engulfs the battery.
The radiograph shows the exact location of the battery. Endoscopy is one of the best ways to remove it. This method also expresses the location, size, and cure of injury.
We share all the possible outcomes of a button battery, AA and AAA battery, and Lithium coin cell ingestion. Please share this life-saving information with your family members, friends, sitters, and caregivers