Foreign Bodies

Summary

If you’ve ever gotten a splinter or had sand in your eye, you’ve had experience with a foreign body. A foreign body is something that is stuck inside you but isn’t supposed to be there. You may inhale or swallow a foreign body, or you may get one from an injury to almost any part of your body. Foreign bodies are more common in small children, who sometimes stick things in their mouths, ears, and noses.

Some foreign bodies, like a small splinter, do not cause serious harm. Inhaled or swallowed foreign bodies may cause choking or bowel obstruction and may require medical care.

Find an Expert

• American College of Emergency Physicians American College of Emergency Physicians
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Patient Handouts

• Bezoar Medical Encyclopedia
• Eye – foreign object in Medical Encyclopedia
• Foreign body in the nose Medical Encyclopedia
• Foreign object – inhaled or swallowed Medical Encyclopedia
• Splinter removal Medical Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia

• Button batteries Medical Encyclopedia
• Foreign object – inhaled Medical Encyclopedia

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Foreign Bodies National Institutes of Health

Images

• Corneal Foreign Body VisualDX
• Object in Eye or Skin, First Aid VisualDX

Treatments and Therapies

• Endoscopic Foreign Body Removal American College of Gastroenterology

Start Here

• Foreign Body Virtual Pediatric Hospital

Specifics

• Foreign Object in the Ear: First Aid Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
• Foreign Object in the Eye: First Aid Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
• Foreign Objects in the Rectum Merck & Co., Inc.

Journal Articles

• Foreign Bodies

Related Issues

• Puncture Wounds American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons

Children

• Splinters and Other Foreign Bodies in the Skin American Academy of Pediatrics