A Statistical Observation of Esophageal and Tracheo-bronchial Foreign Bodies in Our Clinic During the Past 18 Years

Abstract

The 240 cases of esophageal and 69 cases of tracheo-bronchial foreign bodies treated in our clinic between 1969 and 1986 were analyzed. Most (88.3%) of the esophageal foreign bodies were in infants less than 4 years old and adults over 40 years old, while tracheo-bronchial foreign bodies were mainly observed in infants less than 3 years old (71.0%). The most often observed esophageal and tracheo-bronchial foreign bodies were coins (45.4%) and peanuts (34.8%), respectively. The most frequent site of lodgement was the cricopharyngeal portion of the esophagus and the right main bronchus. The majority of esophageal foreign bodies (75.0%) and 44.9% of the tracheobronchial foreign bodies had been lodged for six hours. Three cases of esophageal foreign bodies were treated with lateral pharyngotomy. Twenty seven cases (39.1 %) of tracheo-bronchial foreign bodies were removed by inferior bronchoscopy, and the others by superior or ventilation bronchoscopy. No severe complications were observed in the case of esophageal foreign bodies, while 3 of the patients with tracheo-bronchial foreign bodies died of pneumonia or suffocation. © 1988, The Society of Practical Otolaryngology. All rights reserved.