ENT foreign bodies: profile of the cases seen at a tertiary hospital emergency care unit

Abstract

In our ENT practice, foreign bodies were more commonly seen in children; the ears were the preferential site of occurrence. Complication rates and use of general anesthesia were low in our practice. It should be stressed that ENT foreign bodies need to be properly managed so as to avoid complications.

A Retrospective Study of ENT Foreign Bodies in 50 patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Navi Mumbai

“…In our study, approximately 30 (60%) cases belonged to the paediatric age group whereas the least number of patients included were in the age group of 51-60. It was similar to the study done by Mangussi-Gomes et al, where the peak incidence was seen in the first decade of life (14) . In the study conducted by Awas et al, 76.4% cases were in the age-group of 2-20 years which was in agreement to our study where 74% patients belong to the age-group of 2-20 years (15) .…”

“…Amongst the 23 ear FBs, 10 (43.47%) needed anaesthesia, amongst the 20 nasal FBs, 8 (40%) needed anaesthesia and amongst the 7 cases of throat FBs, 3 (42.85%) needed anaesthesia. In the study conducted by Mangussi-Gomes et al, only 4.4% patients required anaesthesia to facilitate removal, which was not in accordance to our study (14) . In the study conducted by Awad et al, 13.6% ear FBs needed anaesthesia, 14.6% nasal FBs needed anaesthesia and 85.66% throat FBs needed anaesthesia, this was not in accordance to our study (15) .…”

“…A male to female preponderance of 1.27:1 was noted. This was like the study by MangussiGomes et al where 53.5% patients seen were male (14) . Similarly, in the study conducted by Shreshta et al, 58.9% patients seen were males (8) .…”

“…In the study by Mangussi-Gomes et al, 64.4% FBs were in the ear, 19.5% FBs were in the nose and 8.9% FBs were in the throat (14) . This was not in agreement to our study.…”

Management of Curved Foreign Bodies in Otorhinolaryngology Practice

“…Usual foreign bodies in ear are cotton fragments 24.06%, Insects 22.5% and other soft structures [12]. Curved foreign materials are very rare.…”