Ear, Nose, and Throat Foreign Bodies in Children: A Retrospective Study.

Bin Kwon,Yeso Choi,Seok-Jin Hong,Sung-Kyun Kim,Yong-Bok Kim,Seok-Min Hong

doi:10.3390/children9010063

Bin Kwon, Yeso Choi + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/children9010063

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Abstract

Background: This study analyzed the presentation, characteristics, and management of foreign bodies in different age groups of pediatric patients with ear, nose, and throat foreign bodies. Methods: A retrospective study was performed using data from October 2012 to September 2020. A total of 1285 patients with ear, nose, and throat foreign bodies who were less than 12 years of age and who presented to the emergency room were included in this study. Their biographical data, clinical presentations, foreign body types and locations, and management outcomes were obtained from medical records and analyzed as three age groups (infancy: <2 years old; early childhood: 2–5 years old; and late childhood: 6–12 years old). Results: The early childhood group had the highest number of patients (n = 672; 52.2%). Throat was the most common location (59.2%), and bone was the most common type of foreign body. Among the children who visited our hospital, foreign bodies were actually found in only 657 patients (51.1%) and removed by an otolaryngologist in 625 (95.1%) cases. Conclusion: Our study could provide guidance for the diagnosis and management of pediatric patients who present to emergency departments with foreign bodies.

Highlights

Foreign bodies in the ear, nose, and throat are a common problem encountered by otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgeons but pediatrics or family medicine doctor in clinics and emergency departments [1,2,3]
We reviewed a large number of pediatric patients who presented to the otorhinolaryngology department through the emergency room, with foreign bodies in the ear, nose, and throat, including the pharynx and larynx
We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of pediatric patients (

Summary

Introduction

Foreign bodies in the ear, nose, and throat are a common problem encountered by otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgeons but pediatrics or family medicine doctor in clinics and emergency departments [1,2,3]. Children often present to emergency rooms when their parents find or suspect foreign bodies in their ears, nose or throat [4,5]. Children undergoing a stage of exploratory development have a tendency to place objects in their ears, nose, and mouth. These children show either atypical symptoms, such as crying, non-specific discomfort, refusal to eat, and presence of blood-stained saliva, or no symptoms at all [3,6]. Previous studies conducted on a small scale have analyzed the locations of ear, nose, and throat foreign bodies [3,4,5,9,10]. It is important to comprehensively analyze the general characteristics of foreign bodies in children

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion