Foreign body in the air passage is serious and sometimes fatal especially in the infants and children. The author experienced 62 cases of foreign body in infants and children. Forty-four were boys and 18 were girls. Most of cases (80.6%) were children under the age of 5. The major symptoms and signs were dyspnea, decreased breathing sound, cough, and wheezing. In 50%, the time that elapsed between the aspiration of the foreign body and the visit to the hospital was less than 24 hours. The findings of the initial chest X-ray were atelectasis or collapse (32%), emphysema (28%), foreign body shadow (20%), and within normal limits (16%). The variety of the foreign body was numerous, 56.5% of the cases were vegetables including peanuts and beans, 19.4% pointed metals, 17.7% plastics. The right main bronchus (41.9%) and the left main bronchus (27.4%) were the most common sites. The removal of the foreign body was performed by ventilation-bronchoscopy (80.6%), tracheostomy (3.2%), and thoracotomy (6.4%), The three of 62 cases (4.8%) were expired.
|