RT Journal
A1 Weisenberger JE
T1 HAzards of eating razor blades
JF JAMA
JO JAMA
YR 1969
FD March 3
VO 207
IS 9
SP 1719
OP 1719
DO 10.1001/jama.1969.03150220135033
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1969.03150220135033
AB To the Editor:— 
    Dr. Herman Cohen (206:1582, 1968) gives an explanation for the low incidence (12%) of perforation following ingestion of glass fragments. He theorizes that the smooth muscle coats of the gut relax following injury to the overlying mucosa. The usual response to trauma is contraction.He refers to a case of razor blade ingestion, and leaves one with the impression that this is a relatively innocuous pastime. I would differ with him on the basis of a case of my own. A prisoner broke one half of a double edge safety razor blade into three fragments and swallowed them. An abdominal flat plate localized them in the gastric lumen. Laparotomy and gastrotomy yielded the fragments plus a good deal of bright red blood, as well as a 4-cm laceration of the gastric mucosa on the lesser curvature. This series of one case leaves me with a considerably