title: Ingested cylindrical batteries in an incarcerated male: a caustic tale!
abstract: A 37-year-old incarcerated man presented to the accident and emergency department following the deliberate ingestion of eight cylindrical batteries. He also admitted to inserting a razor blade wrapped in cling-film into his rectum; in addition, he sustained a self-inflicted laceration to his left antecubital fossa, using the metal casing from a battery. His medical history included a borderline and emotionally unstable personality disorder. He had ingested several batteries 12 months previously and required an emergency laparotomy to retrieve them. On the present admission, as there was no clinical evidence of small bowel obstruction, he was treated conservatively with serial radiographs. Following conservative management, the batteries failed to progress through the gastrointestinal tract, hence a laparotomy was performed and all the batteries were extricated. This paper discusses the management and associated sequelae of patients presenting following the intentional ingestion of a battery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Milton Keynes University Hospital, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, UK.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dunphy
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Milton Keynes University Hospital, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, UK.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maatouk
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Milton Keynes University Hospital, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, UK.
authors.forename: Mazhar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raja
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Milton Keynes University Hospital, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, UK.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: O'Hara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004435:Eating; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000601:surgery*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D022125:Lacerations / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D007813:Laparotomy; D008297:Male; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome