Foreign Body Aspiration in Children

Study objectives: The young children have a tendency to place objects in their mouths, frequently leading to aspiration of for­eign bodies (FBs) into the tracheobronchial tree (TBT). The aim of this study was to present 10 years experience with 202 patients diagnosed and treated for FB aspiration in our clinic.

Design: Retrospective analysis between 1992-2002

Setting: Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Surgery.

Patients and Methods: 202 patients who were admitted and underwent bronchoscopic examination of the TBT owing to suspected FBs aspiration included in the study. There were 130 male (64%) and 72 female (36%) patients, with a mean age of 2,7 years (range 2 months-13 years). FBs were extracted using an open-tube rigid bronchoscope (Storz, Germany) and suit­able coaxiel forceps (Storz, Germany).

Results: Sunflower seeds and hazelnuts were the most com­mon FBs. The distribution of FBs between the right and left lung and trachea was 62, 35 and 3 percent, respectively. The aspirated material was visible on the chest X-ray in only 5 cases. Despite a history of aspiration, bronchoscopy was neg­ative in 15 (7%) of the cases. Tracheostomy (1), thoracotomy and subsequent bronchotomy (2) were performed in 3 of the cases. Cardio respiratory arrest was observed in three (1%) cases.

Conclusion: The patients with FBs aspiration are rapidly rec­ognized from their histories together with a high index of sus­picion and easily treated mostly by bronchoscopy or thoraco­tomy if necessary. Family education is the best preventive mea­sure for decreasing the incidence of this problem.