Endoscopic management of Aerodigestive foreign bodies in children-5 year Tertiary Care Hospital Experience

ABSTRACT

Background: Foreign bodies of the Aerodigestive tract in children are increasingly common and reached a peak during the Covid Pandemic. They usually present as a acute respiratory emergency. Management of these foreign bodies pose a technical challenge and have a definite risk of morbidity and mortality even in expert hands. Method(s) Our retrospective study is from November 2016 to November 2021. Result(s) We had 29 patients in this study period. 16 boys and 13 girls. Youngest child was 11 months and oldest child was 17 years. Most children were below 5 years (19)-65%. Metal foreign bodies was the highest (11)-37% in our series. Outcomes were analyzed in terms of types of foreign body, duration of procedure, postoperative ventilation, ICU care and morbidity. Conclusion(s) Most patients were treated successfully by endoscopy (27/29)-93%. 2 patients underwent a surgery-(2/29)-7%. we encountered no deaths in our series. Endoscopic retrieval of foreign bodies is a technical challenge in small children. Maximum technical difficulty was with vegetable foreign bodies as they enlarge in size with time. We report the successful management of the foreign bodies in a tertiary care setup with excellent anaesthesia help and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) backup.