Open AccessThe vulnerable Indian one rupee coin
Author(s) -
Arvind Krishnamurthy,
Vijayalakshmi Ramshankar
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of family medicine and primary care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2278-7135
pISSN - 2249-4863
DOI - 10.4103/2249-4863.123927
Subject(s) - medicine , esophagus , asymptomatic , rupee , surgery , forceps , general surgery , population , foreign body , environmental health , exchange rate , economics , macroeconomics
Coins are the most commonly ingested foreign body encountered in the pediatric population, with a peak incidence between 6 months and 3 years of age. Although some ingested coins may be aspirated, most coins pass through the alimentary tract without causing any complications. Coins in the esophagus causing symptoms require immediate removal. The management of asymptomatic coins has been a perplexing problem to the clinicians for decades. We recently managed an interesting case of an impacted Indian one rupee coin in the esophagus of a 13-year-old girl, by performing a simple yet novel technique, by using a conventional flexible endoscopic biopsy forceps. Further, reviewing the literature we inferred that the rounded, stainless steel Indian one rupee coin with a diameter of 25 mm, by itself seems to be vulnerable for impaction in the esophagus and therefore needs to be promptly addressed even if asymptomatic.