Ingestie van ongewenste stoffen door kinderen

- A retrospective study extending over five years was made of the consequences of ingestion of undesirable substances by children. Despite the publicity on this subject it remains a serious medical problem. An annual average of 90 children were seen in the emergency department. Complications are caused mostly by oil products but also by drugs and household products. On average 55 of the children were hospitalized.

With regard to the indication for endoscopical examination of the oesophagus and stomach after ingestion of caustic substances, insufficient arguments for performance of this examination in all children were found in the literature. We advocate a prospective study of this question. With regard to the indication for hospitalization of children after ingestion of tobacco, we are of the opinion that many children may be kept under observation in their homes after being watched for one hour.