An Unusual Case of Button Battery-Induced Traumatic Tracheoesophageal Fistula

Abstract

Esophageal button battery impaction places the patient at high risk for full-thickness damage to the esophagus and tracheal structures with fistula formation in as little as a few hours. The key to successful therapy is prompt diagnosis and removal, but in nonverbal pediatric patients, this often is not achievable. Because of the complications associated with this disease (tracheoesophageal fistula) and subsequent difficulties associated with oxygenation and ventilation, these patients should be managed at an institution with the skilled capability of providing cardiopulmonary bypass quickly as a potentially lifesaving therapy.