Foreign Body Aspiration in Ear, Nose and Throat among Children Under 13 Years of Age

• Main Authors: Yasir Maqsood, Mukhtar Ibrahim, Murtaza Ahsan Ansari
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dow University of Health Sciences 2018-08-01
• Series: Journal of the Dow University of Health Sciences
• Subjects: foreign body; ear; nose; thorat; children
• Online Access: http://www.jduhs.com/index.php/jduhs/article/view/649

Objective: To determine the foreign body aspiration in ear, nose and throat among children under 13 years of age attending tertiary care hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among children under 13 years of age attending Outpatient Department (OPD) or emergency room with history of foreign body aspiration or children among whom foreign body was retrieved during surgery. All information like age, gender, sharpness of foreign body, type of foreign body, requirement of general anaesthesia and site of foreign body were observed. Results: Out of total 181 children, foreign body aspiration of toys/beads (n=66, 36.5%) stone/metal (n=45, 24.9%), and plant/seed nut (n=28, 15.5%), were observed in majority of the patients. Most of the children (n=108, 59.7%) ingested/inserted foreign body during playing while 73 (40.3%) children ingested/inserted foreign body during eating. A significant association of site of foreign bodies were observed with sharpness of foreign body (p-value <0.001), type of foreign bodies (p-value <0.001) and general anaesthesia (p-value <0.001). Similarly type of foreign bodies were significantly associated with gender (p-value 0.003), sharpness of foreign body (p-value <0.001) and general anaesthesia (p-value 0.003). Conclusion: Male children were significantly more involved in foreign body aspiration of plant seeds/nuts, toys/beads, stone/meta, fish bone and coin whereas requirement of general anesthesia was found in almost all children with history of coin as foreign body aspiration.