title: Injuries from ingesting wire bristles dislodged from grill-cleaning brushes--Providence, Rhode Island, 2009-2012.
abstract: Foreign object ingestion is a common reason for visiting an emergency department; however, wire grill-cleaning brush bristles are an uncommon foreign object. This report describes a series of twelve cases identified in a single hospital system from July 2009 through June 2012. Patients included six males and six females; ages ranged from 11 to 75 (mean: 47 years). The patients all reported recent outdoor residential food grilling and use of commercially available wire grill-cleaning brushes. The severity of injury ranged from puncture of the soft tissues of the neck, causing severe pain on swallowing, to perforation of the gastrointestinal tract requiring emergent surgery. Before cooking, persons should examine the grill surface carefully for the presence of wire bristles that might have dislodged from the grill brush and could embed in cooked food. Alternative residential grill-cleaning methods or products might be considered.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Diagnostic Imaging, Warren Alpert School of Medicine, Brown Univ., Providence, Rhode Island, USA. DGrand@Lifespan.org
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Grand
authors.forename: Thomas K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Egglin
authors.forename: William W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Mayo-Smith
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cronan
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gilchrist
mesh_terms: D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003296:Cooking; D003297:Cooking and Eating Utensils; D003679:Deglutition; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019838:Neck Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D011859:Radiography; D012237:Rhode Island