ABSTRACT
The first report of a foreign body in a child dates from 1692 when Frederick the Great who, at the age of 4 swallowed a shoe buckle that passed without incident.1 Accidental ingestion of a foreign body occurs frequently in children, and accounts for a significant number of emergency room visits. In general, accidental ingestion causes little or no morbidity.2-4 In the majority of cases that come to medical attention, the ingestion was witnessed or is strongly suspected by the child’s caretaker. A significant number of accidental ingestions are likely to remain asymptomatic, since most objects pass without any incident. Sometimes the foreign object is discovered by accident in the stools5.
