Drinkers end up in ED after swallowing bottle caps

Warning: Contains graphic images

Three Christchurch men ended up in the hospital emergency department after swallowing metal beer bottle tops while drunk.

In all three cases, the men did not remember ingesting the tops, the New Zealand Medical Journal reported.

The journal reported Christchurch has the second-highest weekly alcohol intake among New Zealand regions, with four to five percent of ED presentations related to alcohol consumption.

"It is suspected that ingestion took place during the rapid consumption of excess amounts of alcohol,” the article read.

“Interestingly, our three cases follow the trend of published cases [globally] in that this is a presentation exclusively of males.”

Each of the patients reportedly had a history of heavy drinking.

“It is suspected that ingestion took place during the rapid consumption of excess amounts of alcohol, compounded by the soporific effects of inebriation,” the report said.

The first case involved a 30-year-old man from Christchurch who presented with a complete acute esophageal blockage after swallowing a bottle cap. The second was a 38-year-old man who was hospitalised two days after the accidental ingestion. The third case was a 55-year-old man who presented with the bottle cap lodged in his stomach.

The New Zealand Medical Journal article, authored by Asim Abdulhamid, Heidi Yi-han Su and Steven Leslie Ding, included photos of the bottle tops inside the men.

“Inadvertent ingestion and impaction of bottle caps is rare as a phenomenon, but can be life-threatening owing to the sharp edges.”

All of the incidents took place over three months last year in Canterbury.