Esophageal perforation following foreign body ingestion in children: report of three cases

We report three cases of foreign body esophagus, in two of them the foreign body was a coin, and the third child ingested a disc battery. In all three cases the foreign body was impacted in the mid esophagus. All were initially evaluated by chest X ray which confirmed the diagnosis. One underwent flexible endoscopic extraction initially followed by rigid esophagoscope later and in the other two extractions was performed using rigid esophagoscope, two of them ended with perforation of the esophagus and treated conservatively with only chest tube insertion and supportive management. In the third child who ingested a disc battery, esophagoscopy revealed necrosis and perforation at the site of impaction with formation of trachea-esophageal fistula, extraction was performed but the fistula necessitated surgical closure which failed and therefore underwent stent placement to end with complete cure.