foreign body

This article deals with bodies foreign to an organism. For the feature film from 2015 see Fremdkörper (film) ; for the German rock band see Fremdkoerper .

Foreign bodies (here bottle cap) in the stomach of a dog

A foreign body ( Latin corpus alienum ) is a solid body foreign to an organism that has entered the tissue or hollow organs of the human or animal body from outside . The type of foreign body is very diverse and ranges from dust and hair to marbles and coins to forgotten scissors and towels ( gossypibom ) in the tissue after an operation.

Foreign bodies in the tissue

Most often, foreign bodies enter the tissue through wounds. If they are germ-free, they can heal and are encapsulated by the body in a connective tissue shell. If, on the other hand , they are contaminated with substances or germs that are hostile to the body , they are expelled by pus or even have to be surgically removed. Equipment specially developed for this purpose is often used, for example Hartmann's foreign body forceps .

Foreign bodies in hollow organs

swallowed toothbrush

Swallowed fish bones stuck across the esophagus. On the left in the X-ray swallow examination during the contrast medium passage, on the right after the swallow only vaguely recognizable (arrows).

X-ray image of the lungs of a 3-year-old child after aspiration of a peanut: the left lung (right in the picture) is clearly inflated by the peanut due to a valve mechanism. Clearly recognizable shift of the mediastinum to the right.

Foreign bodies usually get into hollow organs (through the mouth, nose, ear, anus, etc.) through carelessness or playfulness.

Foreign bodies swallowed

After swallowing, bone fragments or fish bones can be speared into the mucous membrane of the throat or esophagus and cause inflammation there. Swallowed foreign bodies that have gotten into the stomach usually leave naturally, depending on their size. In the case of button cells , removal from the stomach is recommended, as the gastric acid may destroy the casing and release toxic contents. In principle, removal down to the upper small intestine is possible using endoscopy .

Magnetic foreign bodies

If small magnetic parts (e.g. from a magnetic construction kit) are swallowed, there is a risk that they will stick due to their attraction to one another or to another swallowed iron part. Normal removal is then often not possible. Two magnetic parts in two different intestinal loops can also be attracted, so that in between there is pressure damage to the intestine in a short time and ultimately with perforation of the same. A separate procedure is therefore recommended if more than one magnetic foreign body is swallowed, which in many cases also includes surgical removal of the magnets.

Foreign bodies in other body cavities

See also : Foreign body disease  and foreign bodies in the anus and rectum

Foreign bodies should only be removed from the ear and nose by a doctor because of the risk of secondary injuries (severing the eardrum, etc.). Foreign bodies on the eye that are located under the lid are removed by ectropioning the upper or lower eyelid .

Figurative meaning

A foreign body is often also someone who is perceived as annoying by a group or who regards themselves as annoying (see also outsiders and bullying ). Even something that is considered bothersome in a context is sometimes referred to as a foreign body. Unsuitable expressions in an otherwise uniform written work are considered foreign bodies.

literature

• TB Hunter, MS Taljanovic: Foreign bodies. In: Radiographics. Volume 23, Number 3, 2003 May-Jun, pp. 731-757, ISSN  0271-5333 . PMID 12740473 . (Review).
• M Capello: Swallow: Foreign Bodies, Their Ingestion, Inspiration, and the Curious Doctor Who Extracted Them. New Press, 2010, ISBN 1-59558-395-5 .
• S. Chaney: Curious Appetites: Surgery and the Foreign Body. In: The Lancet . 380, 2012, pp. 1050-1051, doi : 10.1016 / S0140-6736 (12) 61589-X .
• Chr. Hoffstadt, F. Peschke, A. Schulz-Buchta a. M. Nagenborg (Ed.): The foreign body . Projekt Verlag, Bochum / Freiburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-89733-189-1 .
• G. Pott and J. Pongratz: Foreign bodies in the digestive tract - everyday experiences , Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Marienkrankenhaus Nordhorn , in: Digestive Diseases, Volume 24 - January / February 2006, pp. 35–39.
• P. Ambe, SA Weber, M. Schauer, WT Knoefel: Swallowed foreign bodies in adults. In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt . 2012; 109 (50): pp. 869-75, doi: 10.3238 / arztebl.2012.0869

Web links

Commons : Foreign Bodies  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: foreign bodies  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Löwenstein S., Koltai JL, Jainsch M., Jergl G .: Complications from ingestion of magnetic foreign bodies . In: Monthly Pediatrics. 155, 2007, pp. S39-S41, doi: 10.1007 / s00112-005-1238-7 .
2. ↑ The Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs NRW: Swallowed magnets can lead to death ( Memento of the original from July 19, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

This article is about a health issue. It is not used for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor. Please note the information on health issues !