Surgical Questions and Answers

Free Medical and Surgical Questions And Answers

13. What are the reasons for people swallowing foreign bodies?

Correct answer:

Foreign bodies are swallowed either accidentally, usually by children, or deliberately by mentally disturbed people, prison inmates and circus sideshow performers. A recent phenomenon is a ‘body-packer’, a smuggler who swallows condoms packed with cocaine or heroin. These may present with bowel obstruction, or may rupture, producing coma or death from absorption of the drug.