Did a child swallow a plastic part? What to do in this case, not everyone knows. This question worries many dads and mothers, because their little researchers in an attempt to know the world around them use all their senses. During the game, the kids are so addicted to it that they forget about caution.
Should mom or dad get distracted for just a couple of minutes, a foreign body already appears in the baby’s mouth - a coin, magnet, battery, puzzle, glass, various small details.
An adult in such situations should behave in a concentrated manner, not be confused, in order to quickly provide the baby with first aid. If mom or dad acts quickly and correctly, surgery can be avoided in some situations.
Reasons for swallowing
The results of statistical studies indicate that annually in millions of children in the gastrointestinal tract are foreign objects. How do they get into the body of babies? Did a child swallow a small plastic piece? What to do? Why do such situations arise?
Kids are curious, they strive to taste everything that is at their fingertips. They do this sometimes and completely by accident during the game.
Attention! Parents should remove needles, medicines, sharp objects from kids in inaccessible places, stick toys with batteries with tape, do not give children under three years old toys that the child can make out into separate elements.
What is most often swallowed by children
All objects that may appear in the gastrointestinal tract of a small child are conventionally divided into two groups: hazardous and non-hazardous to health. The first group includes:
- metal products (coins, batteries, magnets, foil, screws, balls, carnations);
- long or sharp objects (paper clips, wooden toothpicks, fish bones, glass, nails);
- poisonous and toxic substances.
Part of the foreign bodies is not a direct danger. Among such objects, one can distinguish fruit bones, plastic parts, and a tooth that fell out.
Non-hazardous foreign objects are:
- seeds from plums, cherries, peaches, chewing gum;
- rubber and polymer objects (beads, buttons, cellophane);
- building materials (silica gel, polyurethane foam);
- hair, teeth;
- other products (cotton wool, threads, elastic bands for hair).
Signs and Symptoms
How to understand if a child swallows a plastic part? Symptoms and signs by which it can be understood that a small object appeared in a child’s stomach are well known. We highlight some of them:
- excessive salivation;
- coughing;
- labored breathing;
- sharp jumps in body temperature;
- severe (cutting) abdominal pain;
- presence in the stool of blood;
- vomiting and nausea;
- pain in the sternum.
What if a small child swallows a plastic part? The symptoms mentioned above are an alarm to parents. If the baby suddenly turns pale, suffocates, coughs violently, you need to urgently call a doctor so that he is provided with qualified medical care.
Parent sequence
Difficulty breathing is the main symptom indicating that a small child swallowed a sharp-edged plastic part. How should parents behave in such situations? We offer an algorithm of simple actions, the observance of which will provide first aid to the baby.
So, the child swallowed the plastic part, what should I do? The maximum danger to the baby is any foreign parts that are trapped in the trachea or airways. What to do in such situations for adults:
- You need to carefully throw the child through the left knee. The baby's head should be down.
- Need to pat his back, between the shoulder blades.
- It is advisable to induce an emetic effect by pressing on the root of the tongue.
Parents should understand how dangerous small details can be for their child, and prevent the baby from direct contact with them.
Not all fathers and mothers know what to do. A child swallows a plastic part, suffocates, and adults often just panic. But you can not hesitate for a minute, since the baby may be in serious danger. If you wait for the moment when the foreign object independently leaves the body, a serious threat to children's life is likely.
Parents, having seen that the baby’s behavior has changed, should try to find out the cause of coughing, wheezing, and complexion. If qualified baby is not provided in a timely manner, sad consequences will be inevitable.
Swallowing a small part from a child’s designer can be harmless only if it has the correct shape and small size. Otherwise, the situation may be serious.
If a child swallows a sharp plastic piece, it, passing through the gastrointestinal tract, can injure internal organs, contribute to inflammation, and provoke bleeding. Only with immediate medical attention can you count on maintaining the health of the baby.
How not to harm
If parents did not keep track of the baby, what should I do? A child swallows a plastic part, suffocates, what to do correctly, so that the assistance provided does not cause him additional harm? Of course, for starters it is important to keep calm so that the child does not feel the whole danger of the situation.
It is strictly forbidden:
- Give the baby laxatives, put enemas, as with the artificial acceleration of the digestive system, negative consequences are possible. The subject can injure internal organs, become stuck in the intestines.
- You can not force a child to eat solid food.
- Do not try to remove a foreign body yourself with a magnet or tweezers.
If a one-year-old child swallows a plastic part smaller than a centimeter that has a round shape, it is highly likely that the foreign body will independently exit through the gastrointestinal tract along with the stool. You need to be patient, not forgetting to observe the behavior of the child.
Qualified assistance
If a child swallows a plastic part of a toy that could be a real danger to him, he must be hospitalized. In the hospital, using an X-ray or an ultrasound scan, the specialist will identify the place where the part is “stuck”. If a small object enters the stomach, it can be eliminated after research.
If a foreign part enters the bronchi, the doctor will work under anesthesia, since his manipulations can cause pain in the baby. In order to prevent infection of the bronchi and lungs, in addition, the doctor may prescribe a course of antibiotics.
The exact location in the body of a foreign object is established only when conducting research.
Effects
If parents do not consult a doctor in a timely manner, a foreign object trapped in the child’s body can lead to a number of negative consequences: obstruction in the intestine, internal bleeding, death. If the baby swallows small plastic parts, there is no reason for special alarm. Polymeric substances are resistant to gastric juice, they retain their properties when the temperature changes.
Small plastic parts from the designer do not oxidize, do not emit toxic substances. A serious problem will only be in those situations where the part has a complex shape (sharp angles), since when it moves through the intestines, the mucous membrane will be irritated, spasm of the intestinal tube is possible. In some cases, there is a threat to the life of the child due to the development of acute intestinal obstruction, without emergency medical care, a fatal outcome is possible.
Clinical manifestations
Intestinal obstruction that occurs when a child swallows foreign parts can cause organ perforation. If the subject is in the respiratory throat, a serious condition occurs, which is associated with a clogged larynx. The child begins to choke, if untimely assistance is provided, the baby may die.
There is a certain set of symptoms that cannot be confused with other situations: bouts of severe coughing, blueing or blanching of the face, excessive secretion of saliva.
If a small object appears in the digestive system, pathological manifestations may not occur. The kid retains the usual activity, in his behavior there are no any alarming signals. A foreign object will come out of the body naturally, without causing serious problems to the baby.
To summarize
What should parents do if their baby swallows a foreign object during the game? Without losing a second, you need to call an ambulance. With a satisfactory condition of the baby, parents can deliver it to the medical institution themselves to save valuable time.
Pediatricians do not recommend dads and mothers to independently get the item, armed with improvised means, for example, tweezers, a clamp. Such manipulations can damage the baby’s organs, cause even greater harm to his health.