The American journal of emergency medicine
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Foreign body aspiration accounts for 7% of accidental deaths in children under age 4 (4). Children between the ages of 6 months and 3 years of age, adolescent boys and children with mental health issues are at the highest risk of foreign body ingestion. Coins are the most commonly swallowed foreign body in the United States (US) and in other countries those related food such as fish bones are most common (10). ⋯ The most common complication is esophageal obstruction particularly at the thoracic inlet. However, the object can become lodged anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract. We present an unusual case of small bowel obstruction and bowel ischemia secondary to superabsorbent polymer water bead ingestion in a pediatric patient.