Amaigrissement inexpliqué révélant un corps étranger œsophagien négligé : à propos d'une observation pédiatrique

The esophageal foreign body are very common in children, their diagnosis is often easy, but they may go unnoticed to be later revealed by serious complications such as; dysphagia, esophageal perforation and peritonitis. We report the case of a five-years girl, who presented unexplained weight loss since 5 months, the explorations reveals chronic dysphagia related to a neglected esophageal foreign body responsible of an esophageal stenosis. The child was operated externally to extract a « button » battery. The postoperative was simple. The nature of the foreign body is variable, the coins are the most frequently encountered, button cells, that mimic radio-graphically coins, are particularly dangerous because of their chemical and electrical caustic power. The esophageal foreign body can remain unnoticed, especially in small children old in gripping age, dysphagia without clear causes must evoke a neglected foreign body.