Inhalation of foreign bodies by children: A continuing challenge in management

In a review of 19 yr experience with inhalation of foreign bodies by children the 33 patients (mean age 28 mth) were found to have presented most frequently with wheezing or coughing, or both, of recent onset, and to have decreased air entry, rhonchi or respiratory stridor, or a combination of these signs. Eighteen children had inhaled a nut, a pea or a bean. The other 15 had inhaled various organic and inorganic objects. All the children underwent bronchoscopy and the foreign body was completely removed in 19 during the first procedure; the remainder required repeated bronchoscopy or direct surgical removal of the foreign body, or both. Permanent disability or death was not encountered. The findings of the study indicate that early bronchoscopic removal is the preferred treatment when a child inhales a foreign body.