What causes vomiting, wheezing, breathlessness and fever after swallowing a peanut?

Posted on Mon, 25 Jul 2016 in Child Health

Question: Hello We believe our baby who is 8 months has swallowed a peanut. His symptoms are he threw up immediately, he is wheezing, kind of rasping for breath. Dr says wait and see if he gets a temp or has more trouble breathing. I do not feel like we should wait. I live 35 minutes from hospital. Please let me know if I should take him for further evaluation to a large hospital. I am very concerned

Answered by Dr. Pradeep Kumar 28 minutes later

Brief Answer:
Please consult a pediatrician for evaluation

Detailed Answer:
Hello

Thanks for choosing this platform

Foreign body in airway is an emergency.
When taken orally peanut may go to the food pipe or to the airway.Any foreign body in airway can cause sudden cessation of respiration.
The symptoms like breathing difficulty,wheeze suggest that the peanut is in airway.
I would suggest you to consult a pediatrician for clinical examination(whether there is decreased air entry on auscultation)or chest xray if needed.
Although peanut can not be visualised in chest xray,but findings like decreased air entry in lung field in xray would hint towards the diagnosis.
I would suggest you to consult a pediatrician to rule out the foreign body in airway.

I hope this helps.
Please let me know if you have any more doubts.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar