ABSTRACT
Children curiosity for exploring their surrounding environment make them prone to foreign body (FB) ingestion which may lead to injuries and surgical intervention. COVID pandemic and national lockdown has impacted children's normal environment in addition to the changes in the health care system provision. The aim was to determine if the pandemic had a direct impact on the number and management of FB ingestion cases. Method All patients who were referred to our institution with diagnosis of FB from March 2020 to December 2020 were included. They were compared with FB referral during the period March-Dec 2019 as a control. Data included patients' demographics time to presentation type of FB ingested and management approach. Results There was a total of 30 patients with diagnosis of gastrointestinal FB during the study period as compared to 12 patients during the control periods. Thus during the COVID pandemic there was 2.5 times rise in number of cases. The mean age at presentation was 6.4 years during the study period as compared to 4.6 years in the control group. Timing of presentation varied from 0 to 57 days during the COVID pandemic as compared to control group who presented within 24hr except one who presented after 48hr.The most common foreign bodies encountered during the pandemic were button batteries (12) magnets (7) coins (5), other sharp and metallic objects (6). Two third (67%) of patients in the study period required surgical intervention as compared to one third (33%) during the control period. Most common site of impaction was stomach (40%) followed by oesophagus (36.6%). Conclusion The total number of children diagnosed with FB ingestion had significantly increased during the COVID pandemic. Public campaigns should be focused on raising awareness about the danger and medical emergency as a result of FB ingestion.