Characteristics of Ent Foreign Bodies in a Hospital at Cotonou, Benin

Abstract

Introduction: Foreign bodies (FB) can constitute a life-threatening emergency by their nature or their location. The objective of this study was to describe the socio-demographic, diagnostic and therapeutic characteristics of FB in the ENT department of CHUZ-Suru Léré in Cotonou. Methods: This was a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study, with retrospective data collection spanning a period of ten (10) years from January 1 st , 2013 to December 31 st , 2022. Patients of all ages seen in consultations in the ENT and CCF department of the CHUZ-Suru Léré during the study period and meeting the inclusion criteria were taken into account. Results: During the study period, 1810 cases of FB were collected among the 13,947 consultations, i.e. a hospital frequency of 12.98%. The age of the patients varied from 19 days to 94 years with a predominance of children under 10 years (60.2%). The sex ratio (male/female) was 1.13. The duration between the onset of FB and the medical consultation was greater than 72 hours in 88.49% of cases. The circumstances of occurrence of FB were unknown in 86.34% of cases. The external acoustic meatus was the most common location (90.22%). The nature of FB was inorganic in 86.80% of cases dominated by earwax plugs (77.90%), and organic FB in 7.96% of cases dominated by cotton (3.98%). All FB were extracted by the route of introduction except one case. The extraction was performed most often in the consultation chair (97.07% of cases). The evolution was generally favorable (99.94%). Conclusion: ENT foreign bodies are a frequent reason for consultation and mainly affect male children. They are usually inorganic. Evolution is generally favorable after extraction. Prevention remains the best solution.