ABSTRACT
Foreign body aspiration [FBA] is a common cause of respiratory distress in children between 6 months and 3 years old. Early diagnosis and management will decrease complications and mortality. A retrospective study was done on records of 140 patients with FBA between 1998-2003 at Imam Reza hospital a tertiary university hospital of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. From 140 patients, 62% were male and 82.2% were under 6 years old. History of chocking was the most frequent clinical finding [77%], other clinical findings were wheezing [38.6%], decreased breathing sounds [42.1%], cough [20%], respiratory distress [15.4%], fever [15.4%] and stridor [6.6%]. Chest radiography was normal in 42.1%. The time of diagnosis was the first day in 42.3%. The most common aspirated foreign bodies were seeds [40.7%] and the most common site of FBA was right bronchus. Complications consisted of 27.9% pneumonia, 17.1% persistent and resistant pneumonia, cardio-respiratory arrest in 2% and lung abscess in 0.7%. Mean hospital stay was 2 days and mortality rate 2.9%. Foreign body aspiration can occur at any age especially in children under 6 years in the absence of predisposing factors. Normal auscultation and chest X-ray do not rule out the diagnosis of FBA; high suspicion is the important clue for diagnosis