title: Abdominal pain in a child associated with dental amalgam ingestion.
abstract: We present the case of a child with abdominal cramping found to have radiopaque matter in his gastrointestinal tract on plain radiography. The parents denied ingestion of a foreign substance but specific questioning revealed a visit for dental care the previous day. This may serve to illustrate the benefits of taking a careful goal-directed history as opposed to the often recommended open-ended approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, UPMC Northwest, Seneca, PA 16346, USA. rbvmd@comcast.net
authors.forename: Rade B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Vukmir
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D003723:Dental Amalgam; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography
chemical_list: D003723:Dental Amalgam