{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "kind": "condition",
  "id": "gi-foreign-body",
  "name": "Swallowed or lodged foreign body (digestive tract)",
  "category": "chronic",
  "sources": "ICPC-3 (WONCA International Classification of Primary Care, 3rd edition) class DD36 - condition scope only, no dose · No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care · Pediatric Foreign Body Ingestion - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf (NBK430915) - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430915/",
  "review_status": "reviewed",
  "verified_against": "No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care · Swallowed or lodged foreign body (digestive tract) - disease-level clinical article (gi-foreign-body-clinical.txt)",
  "verified_date": "2026-08",
  "treatments": [
    {
      "id": 796,
      "generic": "No drug therapy in primary care (Referral & Advice)",
      "line": 1,
      "is_adjunct": false,
      "form": null,
      "strength_mg": null,
      "adult_dose": "Covers swallowed objects (coins, fish bones, food bolus) and rectal foreign bodies; most need endoscopic or surgical removal. GP recognises danger signs (button batteries, sharp objects, complete obstruction) for same-day referral, and can advise watchful waiting for a small blunt object that has already passed the esophagus.",
      "adult_duration": "Refer, with advice",
      "dose_source": "No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care",
      "rationale": "Covers swallowed objects (coins, fish bones, food bolus) and rectal foreign bodies; most need endoscopic or surgical removal. GP recognises danger signs (button batteries, sharp objects, complete obstruction) for same-day referral, and can advise watchful waiting for a small blunt object that has already passed the esophagus.",
      "cautions": [
        "No medicine is prescribed for this in primary care - this entry is for recognition and referral. Anything given is decided by the service it is referred to.",
        "RED FLAG - There is a strict 2-hour window for esophageal button battery removal, due to rapid mucosal caustic burn and perforation risk.",
        "RED FLAG - Multiple magnets or co-ingested metal are a high danger sign (bowel loop attraction leading to necrosis, fistulization, and bowel perforation).",
        "RED FLAG - There is a strict 6-hour removal window for sharp objects lodged in the esophagus, to avoid mediastinitis and esophageal perforation.",
        "RED FLAG - Drooling or inability to swallow saliva (complete esophageal obstruction), or fever with chest or abdominal pain suggesting perforation."
      ],
      "peds_mgkg_low": null,
      "peds_mgkg_high": null,
      "peds_max_mg": null,
      "peds_basis": null,
      "peds_unit": null,
      "peds_note": "Children follow the same pathway: recognise and refer. No primary-care medicine is implied.",
      "peds_min_weight_kg": null,
      "peds_max_weight_kg": null,
      "peds_age_min_months": null,
      "peds_age_max_months": null,
      "peds_age_bands": null,
      "peds_doses": null,
      "brands": [],
      "condition_id": "gi-foreign-body"
    }
  ]
}