The patient had a past medical history significant for chronic dysphagia, Barrett’s esophagus, congestive heart failure, nystagmus, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, renal insufficiency, and lower esophageal sphincterotomy. He stated that he felt as if “something had gotten stuck in his throat” after taking his morning medications. We report a case of a 70-year-old male with a complaint of a foreign body (FB) sensation in his esophagus, chest pain, and an inability to swallow, who unknowingly ingested one of these cylindrical desiccant containers with his daily medications.Ī 70-year-old male presented to an urban community emergency department (ED) complaining of substernal chest pain, FB sensation in his esophagus, and difficulty swallowing after taking his multiple, morning oral medications. These new cylindrical desiccant containers may pose a significant choking hazard in adults. However, medical device manufacturers have developed a new cylindrical canister that can serve as housing for the silica gel desiccant to be stored with medications ( Image 1). 6 Until recently, silica gel has ubiquitously been packaged in paper or cloth packets that have posed a simple choking hazard in young children ( Image 1). Fortunately, a vast majority of ingested silica results in an innocuous event, while only occasionally resulting in self-limited mouth and throat discomfort. These packets are frequently ingested by young children, accounting for 2.1% of the annual calls to poison control centers. 2 The packets serve as such for many over-the-counter and prescription medication products. Silica gel packets are a common device used as desiccants and are generally made of a paper or cloth that allows the silica to remove moisture from its environment. ![]() It has been known to rarely cause silicosis, a fibrotic lung disease that develops due to occupational exposure of respirable silica, with a death rate of 0.74 per one million in 2010. 3 However, this is not to say that silica gel is an entirely benign substance. 2 In fact, oral silica gel ingestion is considered so innocuous that it is used in the formulation of solid drugs to serve as a lubricant. 1 Acute and prolonged oral ingestion of silica is not associated with toxicities of note. Silica gel products are usually considered minimally toxic substances and primarily pose a risk of choking hazard in young children.
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