When you get stuck eating, don't try the local methods of the people, and try to go to the hospital as soon as possible - in this regard, especially to mobilize the elderly at home to go to the hospital in the morning.
Written by |Changqing Li (M.D., Gastroenterologist in the United States).
One of the most common emergencies during the Spring Festival is called esophageal foreign body, commonly known as getting stuck in eating. This kind of problem is probably more local, in Western countries it has been reported that the main thing that is stuck in the meat ball is eating steak, and in northern China, it is jujube pits, and other chicken bones, fish bones, etc. Because the author is in the gastroenterology department, he can be regarded as "well-informed" in this regard, and he has even seen the New Year's drinking bet swallowing bottle caps and chess pieces being stuck; In another case, I accidentally swallowed a fish bone, took a toothbrush to reach it, and then dropped the toothbrush into it.
It may be that many people have experienced eating stuck, but the number of such occurrences will spike during the Chinese New Year. Among these people, it is more common for the elderly, and there are probably two reasons: one is that the elderly have lost their teeth, have poor oral sensitivity, and are easy to swallow things that are not chewed or should not be swallowed. The second is that the swallowing function of the elderly decreases, the secretion of esophageal mucus decreases, and what is swallowed is easy to be retained.
Here is an important reminder: if you are stuck in eating and need to deal with it, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible. The treatment of esophageal foreign bodies is generally taken out by endoscopic means, and in general, most of the cases that are stuck within 24 hours can be removed smoothly; More than 24 hours, the longer the time, the more difficult it is to take. The reason is that the foreign body is inserted into the wall of the esophagus, which causes infection and inflammation, and some can also penetrate the esophagus and insert it into the aorta, which is very dangerous and sometimes requires thoracotomy surgery. There have been quite a few reports of such cases.
If food falls into the trachea, it is even more urgent, and choking caused by a foreign body in the airway needs to be treated within a few minutes, otherwise death due to lack of oxygen and cardiac arrest will occur. Patients may present with coughing, difficulty breathing, inability to speak, irritability, etc. Such situations require immediate rescue via the Heimlich maneuver,** which is very different from how children are rescued.
As mentioned earlier, the elderly are prone to esophageal foreign bodies, and at the same time, the elderly are prone to complications such as infection and bleeding, because the elderly prefer to endure at home, and they can't help but come to the hospital again, and it is common to endure at home for seven or eight days.
So what happens once you get stuck eating? First of all, remember that many folk methods should not be tried, such as using food to push down, or drinking vinegar. These methods are most likely not effective and are dangerous. We can understand the problem vividly: if you touch another car or a corner while moving the car, it is obvious that you should hit the steering wheel in reverse and reverse it, instead of forcefully moving over. The same is true for esophageal foreign bodies, which are already stuck, and if they are forcibly swallowed, even if they are successfully pushed down, they will pay the price of aggravating the damage. If it is unlucky, it will penetrate the esophagus and cause complications such as perforation, bleeding, and puncture of the surrounding organs. Moreover, this kind of soil method can also create additional problems after going to the hospital: for esophageal foreign bodies that require endoscopy**, those things that are forcibly swallowed will affect the operation of the operation.
So, should you go to the hospital as soon as you get stuck? This is not necessarily the case, as most esophageal foreign bodies resolve on their own. A simple rule of thumb is that you should go to the hospital as soon as you have pain or discomfort, especially if you have pain behind the sternum. Before endoscopy, the doctor will do an X-ray or CT examination to determine the location of the foreign body, as well as the size and shape of the foreign body, and then treat it accordingly.
Of course, the best way to prevent esophageal foreign bodies is to prevent them, especially during festivals such as the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival and Dragon Boat Festival, where there is a custom of eating jujubes in the north. The author's suggestion is that if you want to eat jujubes, it is best to remove the jujube cores; When eating fish, separate the bones and bones first, especially in families with children and the elderly.
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This article is supported by the Science Popularization China Star Program Project, produced by the Science Popularization Department of the China Association for Science and Technology, supervised by the China Science and Technology Press, Beijing Zhongke Galaxy Culture Media***