Goins Jeanne L, Evans Adele K
Wake Forest Baptist Health, Department of Otolaryngology, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, United States.
Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2011 Dec;75(12):1553-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2011.09.006. Epub 2011 Oct 1.
As part of the oral phase of development, children commonly ingest foreign bodies. The most common lodged foreign body, requiring operative removal, in the United States is the penny. Valued at 1 cent, comprised of materials valued at less than 1 cent, costing 1.62 cents to manufacture, and being never removed from circulation, pennies are aplenty. But ingestion can lead to mucosal damage, the consequences of which can be esophageal perforation or stricture formation. We hypothesize that the monetary value of the penny is far less than the cost of its ingestion and removal. This quality assurance study examines the effect of the penny on the purse.
This retrospective review identified 180 foreign bodies in children under the age of 18 over a five year period. Eighty-two were pennies. Operative notes revealed degree of injury. Hospital charge assessments revealed the "cost" of each visit.
There were no esophageal perforations, and cases were divided evenly among injury grades 0-III. The average total charge for all penny-related injuries was $7164.78.
The purpose was to examine the actual cost of a penny (more than its value in production) and the potential cost of its damage (thousands of dollars in measurable costs, untold immeasurable costs). The goal of this study is to draw healthcare professional and public attention to a potentially serious and yet highly preventable injury in young children.
在儿童发育的口腔期，他们经常会吞食异物。在美国，最常见的需要手术取出的 lodged 异物是便士。便士价值1美分，由价值不到1美分的材料制成，制造成本为1.62美分，且从未退出流通，数量众多。但吞食可能导致黏膜损伤，其后果可能是食管穿孔或狭窄形成。我们假设便士的货币价值远低于其吞食和取出的成本。这项质量保证研究考察了便士对钱包的影响。
这项回顾性研究确定了5年期间18岁以下儿童的180例异物病例。其中82例为便士。手术记录显示了损伤程度。医院收费评估显示了每次就诊的“成本”。
没有食管穿孔病例，病例在0 - III级损伤中平均分布。所有与便士相关损伤的平均总费用为7164.78美元。
目的是考察便士的实际成本（超过其生产成本）及其造成损害的潜在成本（数千美元的可衡量成本，还有无数不可估量的成本）。本研究的目的是引起医疗专业人员和公众对幼儿中一种潜在严重但又极易预防的损伤的关注。
原文中“lodged foreign body”不太明确准确意思，这里暂译为“lodged 异物” 。
