What should I do if my child swallows a foreign body?

  Parents know, why the little ones always like to bite and lick anything they can touch? In fact, this is because young children’s sense of taste is more sensitive, they are using their tongues to perceive this new world with curiosity. Sometimes parents don’t pay attention, and children often swallow undigested or toxic foreign objects by mistake, what should they do?  When the swallowed foreign body stays in the narrow part of the esophagus, it will often cry, pain, increased saliva, choking or vomiting or even coughing, breathing difficulties, choking, and should be promptly taken to the hospital and can be removed by gastroscopy.  Most foreign bodies that can enter the gastrointestinal tract can be discharged with the stool without special treatment. However, if the foreign body is too large, too long, too sharp, curved or polygonal, it cannot be discharged and stays in the narrow section or curved part, so it should be treated early to prevent serious complications such as perforation, ridge obstruction and bleeding.  Of course, prevention is the most important thing. Families should take good care of their children and avoid contact with coins, balloons, date kernels, fruit kernels, glass marbles, buttons, batteries, tiny toys, crank pins, bone fragments, fish spines, and other small objects that can be swallowed by them. When you do encounter them, seek medical attention, take a film or gastroscopy to clarify and remove the foreign body, and if necessary, remove it surgically.