Foreign Body Aspiration in Children
摘要
Foreign body aspiration (FBA) is a common pediatric emergency, especially in children younger than 3 years old (Na’ara et al., Ear Nose Throat J, 99:47–51, 2020). The clinical presentation varies from asymptomatic state to acute respiratory failure, which could lead to death if not urgently treated. The most common symptoms include persistent cough, localized decreased breath sounds, localized wheezing, dyspnea, and fever. Out-of-hospital reported mortality rate is about 36.4%, whereas in-hospital mortality ranges between 0.26% and 13.6% due to complications mainly of hypoxia. In the USA, FBA causes around 5% of all accidental deaths in children (Rizk and Rassi, Eur Ann Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Dis. 128:169–174, 2011). The most commonly found aspirated object is food due to a choking episode, which cannot be easily identified in a chest X-ray (Upreti and Gupta, Indian Pediatr, 52:659–60, 2015). A study showed that half of the aspiration accidents occurred under adult supervision. This shows that educating the public against choking hazards is imperative (Nichols et al., Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 76:169–173, 2012). In most cases, the foreign body is located in the right bronchial tree due to wider lumen than left and having a more acute angle with the trachea.