Citation

Rogers LF, Igini JP. J. Am. Med. Assoc. JAMA 1975; 233(4): 345-348.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1975, American Medical Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

1173648

Abstract

Potential medical hazards are involved in the procedure of dropping the "pull-tab" into an aluminum beverage can before drinking the contents. We have seen two cases of inadvertent ingestion and one of inadvertent aspiration of the pull-tab. One of the patients who had ingested a pull-tab required endorcopic extraction of the pull-tab from the esophagus, and the patient who had inhaled a pull-tab required an open thoracotomy for removal of the foreign body from the bronchus. Aluminum is not as dense as radiopaque or other metals and is, therefore, frequently difficult to identify on standard roentgenograms.

Language: en