Pediatric coin ingestion: a home-based survey.

To improve understanding of the natural history of pediatric coin ingestions, an anonymous, home-based mail survey of parents followed by a five-physician private pediatric practice in suburban Maryland was conducted. Of 2,263 families surveyed, 798 (35.3%) responded, representing 1,510 children. Sixty-one (4.0%, 95% confidence interval: 3.1% to 5.1%) children had swallowed a coin, at a mean age of 2.8 years. Fifty-two (85%) coin ingestions were managed at home, usually without calling a physician or poison control center. Only 9 (15%) children were examined by a physician. No child (95% confidence interval: 0% to 4.9%) underwent a removal procedure or had an adverse outcome. Most coin ingestions were found to have been managed at home, often without calling a physician or poison control center. Hospital- or poison control center-based studies underestimate coin ingestion incidence and overestimate the frequency of complications.