Foreign Bodies in the Upper Gastrointestinal Tract in Adults: A Review of 102 Cases

Abstract

1. Foreign bodies (FB) are a common emergency in endoscopy, it requires an endoscopic extraction in approximately 10-20% of cases, and in less than 1% surgical treatment is indicated to managed complications. The adult population at risk is represented by the elderly, patients with behavioral disorders or those with a physical risk factor, such as peptic or neoplastic stenosis, esophageal motor disorders or esophageal diverticula. The therapeutic strategy is decided on the basis of the patient, the location, the type of object, the presence of symptoms and the time of ingestion. Endoscopy must sometimes be preceded by an imaging examination (X- ray or CT scan), the purpose of which is to determine the nature of the object, its location and to look for possible complications. Obstructive, sharp, toxic or more than 6 cm long and 2 cm wide FB must be urgently extract. Complications are rare but can be severe, with esophageal perforation being the most common and feared. We report a retrospective study of 102 cases of ingestion of digestive foreign bodies.