Tracheobronchial Foreign Bodies in Children. Experience at ORL Clinic Tuzla, 1954-2004

Objective: To determine the clinical characteristics and the results of bronchoscopic treatment of children due to foreign body aspiration in a university hospital.

Setting: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Clinical Center Tuzla, Bosnia and Hercegovina.

Method: The analysis of the cases of aspirated foreign bodies within the period from January 1954 to December 2004. The analyzed patients were the children up to 14 years of age. All cases underwent the bronchoscopy. Each patient was analyzed for age, sex, nature and location of the foreign body, results of bronchoscopic removal, complications of bronchoscopy and presence of foreign bodies in the airways.

Results: Six hundred and sixty-two children who underwent bronchoscopy for removal of foreign body in the airways were evaluated. From evaluated children 66.8% were boys, ages ranging from 9 months to 14 years. Foreign bodies were more frequent in children under 3 years of age (65.2%). Most of the foreign bodies removed were organic (87.1%) and more frequently found in the right bronchial tree (53%).

Conclusions: More attention is necessary to the prevention of aspirations. Prevention of aspiration of foreign bodies is better than cure. Public awareness through mass media needs attention to prevent foreign body inhalation.