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Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. Updated visitor guidelines. You are here Home » Swallowed or Inhaled Objects. Topic Overview When you swallow food, liquid, or an object, what is swallowed passes from your mouth through your throat and esophagus into your stomach.
The situation may be more serious when: Signs of choking complete airway obstruction are present. When the windpipe is blocked, air cannot move in and out of the lungs and the person cannot talk, cry, breathe, or cough. A blocked windpipe is a life-threatening emergency.
The choking rescue procedure Heimlich maneuver is used to clear an obstruction in adults and children older than 1 year. Rescue back blows and chest thrusts are used in babies younger than 1 year.
Signs of a partially blocked windpipe are present. When the windpipe is partially blocked, some air can still move in and out of the lungs. The person may gag, cough, or have trouble breathing. Coughing will often pop out the food or object and relieve the symptoms. The choking rescue procedure is not recommended when the windpipe is partially blocked.
An object is stuck in the esophagus. A poisonous object has been swallowed, such as a wild mushroom, a plant, or a chemical. For more information, see the topic Poisoning. A button disc battery, magnet, or object with lead has been swallowed. A swallowed object doesn't show up in the stool within 7 days. These include: Sharp objects, such as open safety pins, bones, toothpicks, needles, razor blades, or broken thermometers.
Long objects. Large objects that may get stuck in the digestive tract and require removal. Check Your Symptoms Have you swallowed or inhaled an object? How old are you? Less than 12 years. Are you male or female? Why do we ask this question? The medical assessment of symptoms is based on the body parts you have.
If you are transgender or nonbinary, choose the sex that matches the body parts such as ovaries, testes, prostate, breasts, penis, or vagina you now have in the area where you are having symptoms. If you have some organs of both sexes, you may need to go through this triage tool twice once as "male" and once as "female".
This will make sure that the tool asks the right questions for you. Have you swallowed or inhaled something that might be poisonous?
Did you pass out completely lose consciousness? If you are answering for someone else: Is the person unconscious now? Are you back to your normal level of alertness? After passing out, it's normal to feel a little confused, weak, or lightheaded when you first wake up or come to. But unless something else is wrong, these symptoms should pass pretty quickly and you should soon feel about as awake and alert as you normally do.
Did the loss of consciousness occur during the past 24 hours? Are you having trouble breathing more than a stuffy nose? Would you describe the breathing problem as severe, moderate, or mild? The symptoms in an adult or older child are different than the symptoms in a young child or baby.
Have you swallowed a disc battery, a magnet, or an object that contains a lot of lead , such as certain toys or a fishing sinker? Have you swallowed an object that was sharp like a toothpick, pin, bone, or needle or long? Long means at least 2 in. Do you have pain in your throat, chest, or belly after swallowing or inhaling an object? How bad is the pain on a scale of 0 to 10, if 0 is no pain and 10 is the worst pain you can imagine?
Signs of pain in an adult or child are different than signs of pain in a baby or toddler. Have you had mild pain for more than an hour? Within the past 2 days, did an object get caught in your throat and cause you to choke? Are you coughing or wheezing? Are you coughing up blood?
This means blood that is coming up from your chest or throat. Blood that is draining down from your nose into your throat because of a nosebleed, for example is not the same thing. Were back blows or the Heimlich maneuver used to dislodge the food or object from the throat? Are you gagging or having trouble swallowing? Are you drooling and not able to swallow? Do you think an object may be stuck in your throat?
Have you vomited? Have you vomited blood or what looks like coffee grounds? If there is only a streak or two of blood that you are sure came from your nose or mouth, you are not vomiting blood. Have you vomited more than once?
Has it felt like something has been stuck in your throat for more than 30 minutes? Have you had any changes in your bowel movements after swallowing an object? Are your stools black or bloody? Have you had:. At least 1 stool that is mostly black or bloody?
At least 1 stool that is partly black or bloody? Streaks of blood in your stool? Have you swallowed a coin? Did you swallow the coin more than 24 hours ago? Most coins pass through the body without a problem in 24 hours. If you don't pass the coin in this time frame, it's best to follow up with your doctor. Has the coin passed out of your body in your stool? Do you still have concerns more than a week after swallowing an object?
These include: Your age. Although common in children, foreign body inhalation can occur to anyone at any age. Avoid putting non-edible objects into the mouth, and always take care to eat slowly. In the most severe cases of foreign body aspiration, the inhaled object can cause choking, and impaired breathing function.
Unless the object is urgently removed, the condition may become fatal. If a person is suspected to be choking, urgent treatment such as back blows and abdominal thrusts are required to help remove the foreign body and prevent any further complications.
Good to know: If the foreign body is successfully ejected during a choking episode, further medical treatment is usually not necessary. However, it is important to continue monitoring the person for signs of any further infection or irritation. If symptoms appear, such as persistent coughing, pain or discomfort, it is recommended to seek medical attention as it may indicate that a complication has arisen.
For foreign bodies that remain in the airways, urgent removal is usually necessary as most complications arise as a result of delayed diagnosis. Approximately 67 percent of people with a foreign body obstruction in the larynx or trachea, who do not undergo removal within 24 hours, experience complications. The appearance and severity of any complications depend on the size, nature and location of the foreign object inhaled.
Pneumonia is a potentially severe infection that causes swelling to the tissue in one or both of the lungs. There are various types of pneumonia, and the term aspiration pneumonia specifically relates to bacterial pneumonia caused by breathing food or stomach contents into the lungs. The most common symptom of pneumonia is a wet cough that often produces mucus.
Other symptoms can include shortness of breath, chest pain and a fever. Aspiration pneumonia is usually treated with antibiotics. Aspiration pneumonitis is a chemical injury to the lungs that occurs when food, stomach contents or a foreign body is breathed all the way into the lungs. A fever may also be present. Because the injury is chemical rather than bacterial, antibiotics are usually not effective at treating aspiration pneumonitis.
Instead, doctors may suggest oxygen therapy, assistance from a breathing machine or clearing the foreign body from the airways using a bronchoscope. Other potential complications that can occur as a result of foreign body aspiration include: [2] [4] [28] [33] [34]. Good to know: Injury to the abdomen and ribs is sometimes caused by the delivery of abdominal thrusts.
People who receive abdominal thrusts may require further examination by a doctor to rule out any internal injuries, such as rib fractures or tears to the stomach. Q: What are the main symptoms of foreign body aspiration? A: When a person experiences an obstructed airway due to inhaling a foreign object, they may experience some or all of the following symptoms:. The severity of the symptoms depends on the size, nature and location of the inhaled object.
In mild cases, the affected person may move into an asymptomatic phase, where no symptoms are present despite the object still being settled in the airways. However, this stage is usually temporary, and symptoms that may arise after a period of time include recurrent coughing, fever and difficulty swallowing.
Q: Can a foreign body be aspirated into the lungs? A: Yes. An object inhaled into the airways can cause an obstruction in the bronchi, which are the two passageways that deliver air into the lungs. Q: What treatment options are there for removal of a foreign body? First aid can often be administered during a choking episode, by encouraging the affected person to cough or by delivering back blows and abdominal thrusts.
If medical help is required to remove the foreign body, the most common treatment method is a bronchoscopy. This is usually performed under general anesthetic and entails a long, thin tube called a bronchoscope, being inserted into the airways to access the respiratory tract and remove the foreign body. In rare cases, surgery may be necessary. Q: What are the after effects of choking? A: Choking is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that requires immediate intervention. However, if the foreign object is successfully removed from the airways, usually no further medical attention is needed.
If any signs of further irritation do occur, such as persistent coughing, pain or discomfort, medical attention should be sought. Q: Does foreign body aspiration happen to both children and adults? A: Yes, anyone at any age can accidentally inhale a foreign body into the airways.
However, the condition is most common in children under the age of three years old. Q: What is the difference between foreign body aspiration and foreign body ingestion?
The two conditions have completely different symptoms, treatments and complications. Read more about Foreign Body Ingestion ». Accessed 14 January British Medical Journal. Accessed 18 January Family Practice Notebook.
US National Library of Medicine. Accessed 17 January MSD Manual. National Health Service. Medline Plus. This website meets the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information. The person who reported the incident noted that capsules are a form of medicine that people are used to swallowing, and suggested that this might have contributed to the mistake. Fortunately, Spiriva capsules are not harmful if swallowed, but the medicine does not work if taken this way.
If you swallow a capsule that is intended to be inhaled, your symptoms may not improve or they may get worse.
Foradil formoterol fumarate capsules and TOBI tobramycin Podhaler capsules are other examples of capsules containing medicine that is meant to be inhaled, not swallowed.
The consumer who made the mistake described in this newsletter was not the first person to swallow a capsule that was meant to be inhaled.
ISMP Canada has received many reports describing cases like this one. Some of these mistakes occurred in hospitals and long-term care facilities, and others occurred at home. Mistakes like this have also been reported in the United States.
Read the ConsumerMedSafety. Figure 1 Spiriva capsules and HandiHaler device. To take a dose of Spiriva, the capsule must be removed from its blister pack and placed into the HandiHaler.
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