Copyright
©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Pediatr. May 8, 2014; 3(2): 14-18
Published online May 8, 2014. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v3.i2.14
Published online May 8, 2014. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v3.i2.14
X-ray detection of ingested non-metallic foreign bodies
Miguel Saps, John M Rosen, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Ann and Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611-2605, United States
Jacob Ecanow, Department of Radiology, Northshore University Health System, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611-2605, United States
Author contributions: Saps M and Ecanow J designed the study; Ecanow J carried out the study; Saps M, Rosen JM and Ecanow J interpreted study results; Rosen JM drafted the initial manuscript; all authors revised the article critically for important intellectual content, and gave final approval of the version to be published.
Correspondence to: Miguel Saps, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Ann and Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, 225 E. Chicago Avenue, Box 65, Chicago, IL 60611-2605, United States. msaps@luriechildrens.org
Telephone: +1-31-22274200 Fax: +1-31-22279645
Received: December 17, 2013
Revised: February 21, 2014
Accepted: March 13, 2014
Published online: May 8, 2014
Revised: February 21, 2014
Accepted: March 13, 2014
Published online: May 8, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: Foreign body (FB) ingestion is very common in children and results in numerous visits for acute medical evaluation. X-ray identification of FB location and retention is used to guide management decisions including performance of additional imaging studies or FB retrieval. We investigated whether non-metal FB were visible on X-ray using a radiographic phantom. Our results show that expert radiologists are potentially unable to identify ingested non-metal foreign bodies. Creation of a database to catalogue X-ray characteristics of ingested non-metal objects would enable clinicians to improve quality of care by reduction of false-negative tests and prevention of unnecessary procedures.