PilBouTox® Project: Button Battery Poisoning From Data Collected by French Poison Control Centres

Button batteries are found in all householders and can be responsible for poisoning, in particular in children. Unexpected complications and death in children who have ingested button battery have been published for over twenty years in medical literature. The most serious cases are those related to the ingestion of button cells, especially in children, when the battery gets stuck in the esophagus. Poison control centres, as well as addictovigilance centres, are regularly called upon for serious poisoning resulting in hospitalization, for which precisely description is most often missing or difficult to obtain and limits the efficiency of the management of these poisonings. So there are many questions related to the treatment that remain unanswered, because some data are missing in previously published studies. For example, in many cases, there is a lack of detail of initial symptoms, delays between symptoms and completion of further tests, follow-ups… A prospective and descriptive study about button battery poisoning performed on data collected by French PCC will be conducted between the 1st June of 2016 and the 31 May of 2018: any call in a PCC that occurred during the period studied and concerning an exposure to a button cell regardless of the route of exposure, the age of the patient, and its symptomatology will be included. The following data will be taken : severe complication, need for surgery, length of hospital stay, death, risk factors concerning the battery (size, voltage), abnormalities at the first fibroscopy.

Inclusion criteria

Any call that occurred during the period studied in a Poison Control Centre and concerning an exposure to a button cell regardless of the route of exposure, the age of the patient, and its symptomatology.

Exclusion criteria

Animal cases