[Swallowed foreign bodies: problems, prognosis, and treatment (author's transl].

This is a report about 1465 cases of swallowed foreign bodies. Surgery is not necessarily indicated when foreign bodies are swallowed, because 90% of the objects are discharged spontaneously. Complications (perforation, ileus) occur only in 0.5% of the cases. Endoscopic extraction should be attempted; surgical removal is indicated only in cases of acute abdominal symptomatology or ileus. Foreign bodies can be left in the intestine for years without any noticable problems or pain (eight observed cases).