How to Troubleshoot Swallowing a Watch Battery

Watch batteries, also called button batteries, power wristwatches, hearing aids, flashing jewelry and a number of toys. If these batteries are swallowed accidentally (usually by children), they present unique risks. Most button batteries will simply pass through in the stool, but others may get "hung up" in the esophagus or stuck in the intestinal tract and cause tissue damage. When one of these batteries is swallowed, though, there is a standard procedure that should be followed to make sure the swallower is all right.

Things You'll Need

• Battery identification number

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Instructions

• 1

  Call the National Battery Ingestion Hotline at [phone]. If you have the battery identification information (found on the package the battery came from), have it ready. Even if you don't have the battery identification information you should be ready to answer as many questions about the incident, as well as the swallower's medical history.

• 2

  Get an X-ray of the swallower. This should be done as soon as possible to make sure that the battery isn't hung up in their esophagus and that it did pass into the stomach. It's better to go to the emergency room to get the X-ray because if the battery is hung up in the esophagus, it can discharge built up electricity and cause tissue damage to the throat. The swallower may feel pain in his throat, but only an X-ray can tell for certain if the battery is stuck. If so, then doctors will have to remove the battery.

• 3

  Watch for symptoms of fever, stomach cramps and blood in the swallower's stool. If any of these symptoms occur, be sure to report them immediately to your doctor. Further tests and X-rays will be necessary to determine exactly what's going on in the swallower's stomach, for example, the battery rupturing and causing damage, getting hung up in the intestinal tract, or the metal simply causing a bad reaction in the stomach.

• 4

  Check the swallower's stool for the battery until you're certain that it's passed completely through his body.