Endoscopic removal of ingested foreign body in children: experience of a tertiary care hospital of Bangladesh

Abstract

Purpose: Foreign body ingestion is a common incident in children & majority of ingested foreign body removed spontaneously, few percentages (10%) remain in GI tract. The timing of endoscopy depends on some clinical & radiological parameters. The aim of this study to is to observe clinical profile of foreign body ingestion in children in Bangladesh. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from February 2016 to December 2019 in the department of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka. A total of 29 cases of upper GI tract foreign bodies were studied. Patients with history of ingested foreign body, were clinically examined. Asymptomatic foreign body ingestion was frequently observed. Routine neck and chest X-ray in both AP and lateral views were obtained for these cases. Flexible endoscopy for foreign body extraction with suitable foreign body retriever was used to remove the foreign bodies. Data were expressed as percentage & number. Results: Foreign body was commonly seen 22 (75.9%) in 1-5 years of age. Sex distribution of foreign body ingestion cases, where 15 (51.7%) were male child. Among the ingested foreign bodies only 3 (10.3%) were removed within 24 hours of ingestion, 10 (34.5%) cases were removed between 24-48 hours and the remaining 16 (55.2%) were removed after 48 hours. Coin was the most common foreign body 19(65.5%). Other foreign bodies were metallic chain 3 (10.3%), button battery 2 (6.9%), others 5 (17.2%). Conclusion: The study showed that foreign body ingestion is more common in 1-5 years age group, coin was the most commonly ingested foreign body.