Retained esophageal button batteries (BBs) cause significant morbidity in children. Current guidelines recommend oral honey administration in children over 1 year and esophageal irrigation with 0.25 % acetic acid (ACA) after BB removal, but supporting evidence is limited. We aimed to develop a dynamic in vitro esophageal model to evaluate these interventions.
Ingestion of button batteries poses an acute life-threatening injury risk, particularly for small children. The Canadian Surveillance System for Poison Information reported 1021 single-substance button-battery ingestion cases from 2020 to 2023, and the British Columbia Drug and Poison Information Centre (DPIC) managed 548 unintentional ingestion cases from 2013 to 2023. Nearly all the DPIC cases required hospital admission for X-ray imaging, and seven patients required surgical removal of the battery from the esophagus. Our findings support developing product warning labels and enforcing child-resistant battery packaging and compartments on consumer products.
Button batteries are found in many everyday household items from remote controls to toys and hearing aids. When swallowed or inserted into ears or noses, they can cause severe internal burns within hours. Children under 5 are most at risk because of their natural tendency to put objects in their mouths and noses.
