Foreign Body Ingestion: Examination

A comprehensive clinical examination is the basis for selecting further diagnostic steps:

• General physical examination – including blood pressure, pulse, body temperature, body weight, body height; furthermore:
  • Inspection (viewing).
    • Skin, mucous membranes
    • Oral cavity [due tosymptom: severe salivation (salivation), persistent under certain circumstances].
    • Larynx (larynx)
    • Pharynx (throat)
    • Abdomen (abdomen)
    • Note: If the event was not observed but a small part is missed, the child’s ear canals and nostrils should also be examined!
  • Auscultation (listening) to the lungs.
  • Auscultation of the heart
  • Examination of the abdomen (belly)
    • Auscultation of the abdomen
    • Palpation (palpation) of the abdomen (tenderness?, tapping pain?, coughing pain?, guarding tension?, hernial orifices?) [due tosymptom: peritonitic (strongly tense) abdominal wall]

Square brackets [ ] indicate possible pathological (pathological) physical findings.