Foreign Body Aspiration in Ear, Nose and Throat among Children Under 13 Years of Age

Abstract

Objective: To determine the foreign body aspiration in ear, nose and throat among children under 13 years of age attending tertiary care hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among children under 13 years of age attending Outpatient Department (OPD) or emergency room with history of foreign body aspiration or children among whom foreign body was retrieved during surgery. All information like age, gender, sharpness of foreign body, type of foreign body, requirement of general anaesthesia and site of foreign body were observed. Results: Out of total 181 children, foreign body aspiration of toys/beads (n=66, 36.5%) stone/metal (n=45, 24.9%), and plant/seed nut (n=28, 15.5%), were observed in majority of the patients. Most of the children (n=108, 59.7%) ingested/inserted foreign body during playing while 73 (40.3%) children ingested/inserted foreign body during eating. A significant association of site of foreign bodies were observed with sharpness of foreign body (p-value <0.001), type of foreign bodies (p-value <0.001) and general anaesthesia (p-value <0.001). Similarly type of foreign bodies were significantly associated with gender (p-value 0.003), sharpness of foreign body (p-value <0.001) and general anaesthesia (pvalue 0.003). Conclusion: Male children were significantly more involved in foreign body aspiration of plant seeds/nuts, toys/beads, stone/meta, fish bone and coin whereas requirement of general anaesthesia was found in almost all children with history of coin as foreign body aspiration.

Volume 12, No. 3, 2023

“…Studies in the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada and Pakistan revealed that children below the age of 15 years were prone to choking from bones (Chapin et al 2013;Sofos 2014;Dumas 2018). The effects of unintentional consuming of sharp or larger bones goes beyond choking, as some bones can lead to esophagus trauma, and/or sticking, where surgery may be required (Huck and Kyles 2018;Maqsood et al 2018). In general, overcooking of meat and bones may render smaller bones more chewable and less dangerous to the consumer (Jin- Gi et al 2019).…”