Study of foreign body aspirations.

ABSTRACT

Objective: Foreign body aspirations comprise the majority of accidental deaths in childhood. Diagnostic delay may cause an increase in mortality and morbidity in cases without acute respiratory failure Methods: In our Hospital, bronchoscopy was performed on 105 patients with the diagnosis of foreign body aspirations.Of these cases, 65.77% were male and 34.29% female. Their ages ranged from 2 months to 13 years. Diagnosis was made on history, physical examination, radiological methods and bronchoscopy. Results: Foreign bodies were localized in the right main bronchus in 59 (56.19%) patients followed by left main bronchus in 191 (18.8%), trachea in 173 (17.1%), vocal cord in 75(7.4%) and both bronchus in 28 (26.67%). Foreign body was not found during bronchoscopy in 4 cases (3.81 %). The majority of the foreign bodies were ground nut. Foreign bodies were removed with bronchoscopy in all cases Conclusion: Rigid bronchoscopy is very effective procedure for inhaled foreign body removal with fewer complications. Proper use of diagnostic techniques provides a high degree of success, and the treatment modality to be used depending on the type of the foreign body is mostly satisfactory.