Introduction:Airway foreign bodies are one of the important emergencies in otolaryngology
that can be life-threatening.
Early diagnosis and treatment prevent complications and death.
Airway foreign bodies can mimic other conditions such as asthma and pneumonia.
The Goals: Determination of foreign body distribution from the point of age, sex, clinical
and radiological findings, type and location, duration of enlodgement, the way of referring, and
negative bronchoscopy.
Study Design: The retrospective study of 1000 cases of foreign body aspiration in the
Department of Otolaryngology of central Childrens Hospital of Tabriz.
Results: Foreign body aspiration in boyswas 1.7 times more common than girls.
The most common age group was between 1-2 years.
The most common symptom was cough.
In 24.6% the bronchoscopy was negative. CXR was normal in 54.2%, and the most
common abnormality was obstructive emphysema.
The most common location was the right bronchus (44.2%), and the foreign body was
vegetative matter in 82.5%.
IN 29.7% duration of enlodgement was 1-5 days. Preferance was by parents more than
others (42.4%).
Conclusion:Delay in diagnosis causessome complications.
The lackof clinical and radiological findings can not rule out foreign body aspiration.
In any patient with suspected history of aspiration bronchoscopy is necessary for definitive
diaqnosis. Education of parents is important in prevention.