A cotton tipped applicator broke and a patient swallowed a piece.The patient was having a strep test performed.As the physician was swabbing the patient's throat the wooden stick broke.The patient ingested approximately a ¾ inch piece including the cotton tip.An abdominal x-ray and esophagram showed the swallowed piece had passed through the jejunum.Follow up showed the patient to be passing urine and stools; patient's abdomen was soft and non-tender with no apparent signs of bowel obstruction.A sample was not returned.A root cause cannot be determined but user error may be a contributing factor.Due to the reported incident and in an abundance of caution this medwatch is being filed.Not returned.
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