A 2-year-old girl was seen in the Emergency Department at Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, with a two-day history of fever, sore throat, cough, and runny nose. She had no associated decrease in appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or constipation. The only medication she had received was an over-the-counter cough syrup. She was febrile (38.4 °C; 101.2 °F), and scattered rales were heard in both lungs. Her chest roentgenogram was normal except for radiopaque flecks beneath the left hemidiaphragm, apparently in her stomach. An abdominal roentgenogram (Fig 1) was obtained. Her father did not know of her ingesting anything unusual.
Denouement and Discussion
Play-Doh in the Gastrointestinal Tract: Modify 'CHIP' to 'CHIPPED'
A phone call home to her mother revealed that the little girl had in gested a handful of Play-Doh (Kenner Products, Cincinnati)-a children's modeling compound-the day prior to her Emergency Department visit. She was treated symptomatically and sub sequently recovered uneventfully.