Clinical profile and management of aerodigestive foreign bodies in North-western Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Aeordigestive tract emergences in Nigeria occur in all age groups. They sometimes have dreaded outcome if lodged in air passages. The aim is to present the results of this problem in a 5-year retrospective survey of cases in the Emergency Unit of the National Ear Care Centre, Kaduna, Nigeria, from January 2009 to December 2013. Retrieved cases were studied noting the clinical history, examination and intervention. The study included all patients diagnosed with aerodigestive foreign bodies within the period stated. Fifty-seven thousand nine hundred and four patients were studied. Fifteen thousand eight hundred and fifty were emergencies. The hospital prevalence was 0.61% and the average annual incidence was 0.13%, male preponderance with male to female ratio of 2.24-1.00. All patients were symptomatic. Mortality was recorded in one patient who had a co-morbidity of esophageal perforation. Aerodigestive foreign bodies pose a serious challenge in a setting of poor resources and scarcity in diagnostic and interventional facilities