RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Ingested cylindrical batteries in an incarcerated male: a caustic tale!
JF BMJ Case Reports
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP bcr2014208922
DO 10.1136/bcr-2014-208922
VO 2015
A1 Louise Dunphy
A1 Mohamed Maatouk
A1 Mazhar Raja
A1 Richard O'Hara
YR 2015
UL http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2015/bcr-2014-208922.abstract
AB A 37-year-old incarcerated man presented to the accident and emergency department following the deliberate ingestion of eight cylindrical batteries. He also admitted to inserting a razor blade wrapped in cling-film into his rectum; in addition, he sustained a self-inflicted laceration to his left antecubital fossa, using the metal casing from a battery. His medical history included a borderline and emotionally unstable personality disorder. He had ingested several batteries 12 months previously and required an emergency laparotomy to retrieve them. On the present admission, as there was no clinical evidence of small bowel obstruction, he was treated conservatively with serial radiographs. Following conservative management, the batteries failed to progress through the gastrointestinal tract, hence a laparotomy was performed and all the batteries were extricated. This paper discusses the management and associated sequelae of patients presenting following the intentional ingestion of a battery.