Lead foreign body ingestion in children.

Foreign body ingestion is seen commonly in paediatric surgical practice and the vast majority of ingested foreign bodies will pass spontaneously once they have made their way into the stomach. Lead foreign body ingestion in children represents a special case in view of the potential for acute lead intoxication secondary to dissolution and absorption of the ingested lead. Lead dissolves poorly in physiological solutions with the exception of the acid environment of the stomach. We report a case of a 4-year-old child who ingested a lead sinker which was removed from the stomach by emergency endoscopy. This case stimulated a review of the relevant literature and the formulation of a management plan for lead foreign body ingestion in children. The principles of this management plan are observation of the child in hospital and use of a protein pump inhibitor until the foreign body has passed out of the stomach.