Intentional ingestions of foreign objects among prisoners: A review

Table 1 Incidence of Ingestions 2006-2010 in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections

Year	IIFO incidents seen (n)	Total prisoners incarcerated[12] (n)
2006	17	48534
2007	20	49691
2008	22	50371
2009	47	50371
2010	26	50944
	132	249911 (5-yr census)

Table 2 Published series of intentional ingestion of foreign objects with patient treatment plans when available n (%)

Ref.	Year	Patients (n)	Not undergoing intervention	With psych dx	Surgery	Endoscopy	Objects ingested (n)
O’Sullivan et al[1]	1996	36 (20 prisoners)	31 (86)	6 (16)	2 (6)	4 (11)	308
1Dalal et al[2]	2013	30 (141 episodes)	33 (23)	27 (19)	11 (7)	97 (68)	649
1Weiland et al[3]	2002	22 (256 episodes)	23 (9)		10 (4)	64 (25)	256
Barros et al[4]	1991	167 (39 prisoners)	14 (8)	6 (3)	51 (30)	117 (70)	167
Selivanov et al[8]	1984	100	42 (42)	4 (6)	12 (12)	42 (42)	101
Blaho et al[13]	1998	8	8 (100)	6 (75)			14
Velitchkov et al[14]	1996	542 (379 prisoners)	410 (75)	124 (23)	26 (5)	19 (3)	1203
Karp et al[15]	1991	19		18 (95)
1Lee et al[17]	2007	33 (52 episodes)	0		6 (12)	46 (88)	104
Bisharat et al[18]	2008	11	7 (63)		3 (27)	2 (18)
Huang et al[19]	2010	33	4 (12)	27 (81)	2 (6)	299	305
Ribas et al[20]	2014	82	142	62 (75)	5 (6)	15 (18)	162
Grimes et al[7]	2013	159 (23 prisoners)		34 (21)	5 (3)	231	254
Total		2613	1014 (39)	317 (12)	190 (7)	1129 (43)	3153

¹Many presented with multiple episodes. Not all studies reported all data. Some studies may include some non-intentional ingestions.

Table 3 Most common types of objects ingested

O’Sullivan et al[1]	Batteries, sharp metal objects (nails, razor blades, pins)
Dalal et al[2]	Pens, razor blades, spoons, sporks1, toothbrush, screws, bolts
Weiland et al[3]	Metal bezoars
Barros et al[4]	Wires, needles, balloons (filled with narcotics)
Selivanov et al[8]	Coins, bones, food, razor blades, safety pins
Blaho et al[13]	Razor blades
Velitchkov et al[14]	Screws, pins, spoons
Huang et al[19]	Pens, batteries, knives
Karp et al[15]	Razors, glass, toothbrush
Lee et al[17]	Metal wires, pens, toothbrush, needles
Bisharat et al[18]	Razors, batteries
Ribas et al[20]	Razor blades, cylindrical batteries, mattress springs
Grimes et al[7]	Toothbrush, pencil

¹Spork: Functional combination of a spoon and a fork.

Table 4 Relative frequency of intentional ingestion of foreign objects management strategies employed in 141 episodes of intentional ingestion of foreign objects

No intervention	16%
Hospital admission	10%
Surgery alone	5%
Endoscopy + surgery	3%
Endoscopy alone	12%
Endoscopy (successful)	54%