During the annual holidays, it is the peak time for young children to swallow foreign objects by mistake.
In the past two days, Xi'an Children's Hospital has received two cases of children who have swallowed glass slag by mistake in two days.
In the 10 days before and after the Spring Festival, the Hubei Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital performed nearly 20 cases of foreign body removal surgery in children.
And the things that children swallow by mistake are even more varied, including gold rings, nuts, coins, ballpoint pen heads, marbles, and even button batteries, and so on.
The danger of swallowing by mistake, needless to say that many parents know, some will cause breathing difficulties, suffocation, and some even lifelong paralysis, such as the British little girl Kacie, because of the accidental consumption of a coin cell battery, burned the stomach and aorta, almost paralyzed for life.
Away from danger, prevention is the most important
To prevent children from eating and swallowing by mistake, the most important thing is to prevent problems before they occur and eliminate potential safety hazards.
- Pack up small, sharp things, including medicines, and the cabinet where these things are placed is best locked with a lock to avoid children from turning over.
- Don't let your child get into the habit of stuffing everything in their mouths.
- When buying toys for children, pay attention to small parts do not buy, usually also check whether the child's toys have fallen small parts and do a good job.
- The range of children's play should be carefully checked frequently, and there should be no coins, pushpins, buttons and other things that are easy to be eaten by mistake.
- Children under 3 years of age should eat as few whole nuts as possible, chop them up before eating. Don't let your child eat while he's playing and laughing.
Unfortunately swallowed by mistake, parents do so
If the child is unfortunate enough to swallow a foreign object by mistake, parents must remember not to panic and do this:
- Determine what your child is swallowing, and if it's dangerous items like metal, medicine, coin cell batteries, and desiccant, dial 120 right away.
- Do not casually pat the child's back or put your hand in the child's mouth to pick it, casual slapping is likely to make the foreign body enter deeper.
- Babies over one year old can use the Heimlich First Aid Method for first aid.
The specific method is: to pick up the child, stand behind the child, let the child lie face down on his knee or arm, one hand fist, with the thumb against the child's abdomen, the other hand to support the back of the child's neck, on the child's back pat about 1-5 times.
If the foreign body in the child's mouth has not been spit out, it is necessary to flip the child over or let the child lie on the ground, and the parents kneel down and place their middle fingers on the top of the child's chest and navel, quickly upward compression, pay attention to the strength, can not cause secondary damage to the child.
- Babies under one year of age should be given first aid by patting their backs and pressing their chests.
The specific method is: let the baby face down, lie on the parents' forearm, and force the baby's back to force about 5 times, the frequency is controlled at 1 second, the same should pay attention to the strength, not too heavy.
If the foreign body does not come out, turn the baby over to face the parents, and use the parent's 2 fingers to squeeze the baby's sternum 5 times, the frequency is also 1 time per second, until the baby spits out the foreign body.
Let the child pull it out on their own, not for all situations
Sometimes because the child swallows some small things by mistake, parents will deal with it themselves, such as giving the child leeks and the like, and want the child to pull it out by himself. But I suggest that you better take your child to the hospital for a check-up first and let a professional doctor judge it.
Because the child's organ development is not perfect and relatively weak, the foreign body swallowed by mistake is likely to cause dangers such as esophageal obstruction, peptic ulcer, perforation, and bleeding.
If the doctor judges that there is no danger, you can let the child discharge itself, and after returning home, you can give the child some foods that are conducive to defecation, such as fresh vegetables with more dietary fiber, and drink more water, while closely observing the child's situation, whether there is any shortness of breath and other abnormalities.
Be careful not to use laxatives to make defecation, but it will affect your child's health.
Under normal circumstances, the food eaten in 48 hours will be discharged, so if it has not been discharged after three days, you need to take your child to the hospital for examination.