50 batteries in the intestines of an Irish patient
Doctors in Ireland have removed 50 batteries from a woman's intestines and stomach after she swallowed them in what appeared to be a deliberate act of self-harm.
The 66-year-old woman was treated at St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin after ingesting an "unknown number" of cylindrical batteries, according to a report published Thursday in the Irish Medical Journal and carried by Live Science.
X-rays revealed a large number of batteries in the woman's abdomen, although fortunately none of them appeared to be obstructing the digestive system and none of the batteries showed signs of structural damage.
The treatment team initially took a "conservative" approach, according to the report, meaning they closely monitored the patient to see if and how many of the batteries would pass through the digestive system on their own.
Over a one-week period, five AA batteries passed naturally out of the GI tract, but X-rays taken over the next three weeks showed that the vast majority of the batteries failed to continue advancing through the woman's body.
By this time, the patient had widespread abdominal pain, and eventually had to undergo a laparotomy. Surgeons made an incision to access his cavity, and found that the stomach, tightened by the weight of the batteries, became distended and extended into the area above the pubic bone.
The team then cut a small hole in the stomach and removed 46 batteries from the inside.
These included different-sized batteries with four stuck in the colon, bringing the total number of batteries ingested to 55.
"To our knowledge, this case represents the largest reported number of batteries ingested at one time," the doctors wrote in their report.
The report noted that most cases of battery ingestion published in medical journals describe cases in which children swallowed small button-sized batteries, and "the intentional ingestion of several large-size AA batteries as a form of intentional self-harm is an unusual act," according to the report.
In these most common cases of child battery ingestion, batteries can sometimes pass through a child's body without causing harm.
But if it gets stuck in the throat, it can cause serious and even life-threatening injuries, because saliva passes an electric current into the trapped batteries, which leads to a chemical reaction that burns the esophagus and can lead to severe tissue damage and bleeding.
Life Science previously reported that ingestion of larger cylindrical batteries could also present these risks, as well as the risk of chemical leakage from the batteries and blockage in the digestive system.
"The potential of cylinder batteries to cause acute surgical emergencies should not be underestimated," the case report said.
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