Foreign body

From ArticleWorld

A foreign body involves the insertion or entry into the body of a foreign substance or object through the skin or any orifice. Children are especially susceptible to having foreign bodies, either by accident or intention.

Types

Foreign bodies can enter the skin, such as when a child steps on a nail, a piece of glass or another sharp object while walking barefoot. They can also sustain what is often known as a “sliver” in the hands or feet when exposed to a rough wooden or metallic object.

Children often, out of curiosity, put foreign objects into their ears, nose, mouth or even the vagina. Many times they are small items such as beads, small toys or coins. An object placed in the mouth is considered a foreign body if it is an inedible item that is swallowed and is somewhere in the digestive tract, exclusive of the mouth itself.

The eyes can be sources of foreign bodies that are caused by rubbing the eyes or perhaps by having a small substance like sand or dirt blow into the eyes. A foreign body in the eye can be imbedded in a certain place or can be free-floating on the surface of the eye. Contrary to popular myth, a free-floating foreign body can’t “get lost” behind the eye or enter the brain. Imbedded foreign bodies in the eye are very painful when they are in the cornea or “colored” part of the eye and less painful on the white part or sclera of the eye.

Treatment

Foreign bodies of the skin sometimes create local abscesses that essentially float the foreign substance out of the skin along with purulent material. If not, a small forceps or tweezers can be used to grasp the foreign substance. In rare cases, surgical excision might be necessary.

Foreign bodies in the nose can be grasped by a forceps. In some cases, a doctor can pass a tube into the nose past the foreign body and blow up a balloon at the tip of the tube. By pulling back on the tube, the foreign body comes out ahead of the tiny balloon. Lastly a small foreign body in the nose can be pushed into the nasopharynx and subsequently spit out or swallowed.

Foreign bodies of the ear often are treated by flushing the ear canal with water. Sometimes a small forceps can grasp the object as well. The risk of using water to flush out certain foreign bodies, such as dried peas or beans, is that the water will swell the object and make it more difficult to remove.

Eye foreign bodies, if not imbedded, can be treated by flushing the eye with cool water. If this fails to work, a doctor can use a special dye to locate and remove the foreign body which becomes more obvious when dyed and allowed to reveal itself under a blue or “black” light.