• Sarah L Woolley and David R K Smith.
• Consultant Emergency Department, Bristol Royal Infirmary/Bristol Children's Hospital, Bristol, UK. Sarah.Woolley@ubht.swest.nhs.uk
• Eur J Emerg Med. 2005 Dec 1; 12 (6): 312-6.

AbstractForeign body ingestion in children is a common presenting complaint to the emergency department. Although the majority of ingested foreign bodies pass through the gastrointestinal tract unaided, some children will require either non-surgical or surgical intervention. Retained oesophageal foreign bodies may cause a multitude of problems, including mucosal ulceration, inflammation or infection, and more seriously paraoesophageal or retropharyngeal abscess formation, mediastinitis, empyema, oesophageal perforation and aorta-oesophageal fistula formation. We present a case of a 12-month-old child in whom delayed diagnosis of glass ingestion resulted in the development of a retropharyngeal abscess, oesophageal perforation and mediastinitis. Such complications following foreign body ingestion in children are rare but potentially fatal. A high index of suspicion must be maintained in young children presenting with a possible history of foreign body ingestion as a delayed diagnosis may lead to significant morbidity and mortality. We review the literature surrounding paediatric retropharyngeal abscesses and mediastinitis.

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