DELIBERATE INGESTION OF FOREIGN BODIES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Introduction and objective: Accidents with foreign bodies of all types have been described in most parts of the body. The most common places are the natural head and neck cavities. The objective of this study is to know the situation of deliberate ingestion of foreign bodies. Method: We conducted a search in PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, Wos and Scielo, selecting those articles in which the existence of intentional ingestion of foreign bodies was mentioned. Two ways of research were used using the terms “deliberate” and “intentional” AND “foreign body” in the maximum time suggested by the PubMed platform. Results: With the word “deliberate”, 14 articles were found from 1990 to 2021 and with the word “intentional”, 25 articles were found in the period from 1984 to 2021. All other research sources had zero articles. The sum of these articles was 39. A screening was performed and only clinical cases were selected and we obtained 12 articles using the word “deliberate” and 9 using the word “intentional”. Of these, 1 article was excluded because it is not in the selected language (English, Portuguese or Spanish), leaving a sample of 11 articles. Of these, 2 were excluded because they did not have an abstract, leaving 9 articles and all of them were excluded because they did not comply with the inclusion criteria (in non-prisoner individuals and without mental disorders). Conclusions: Accidents with foreign bodies are common in ENT clinical practice, however, deliberated ingestion is less frequent. The deliberate ingestion of foreign bodies appears in groups at risk, such as prisoners and the mentally ill with the aim of drawing attention or getting out of prisons in an attempt to escape.