Evaluation of the Demographical and Clinical Characteristics of the Children with Foreign Body Aspiration: A Single Center Experience

Objective: To evaluate the determination of demographic and clinical characteristics and the roles of parental education and income levels in foreign body aspirations in childhood.
Methods: Seventeen patients who admitted to the Necmettin Erbakan University Meram Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Pulmonology for foreign body aspirations and from whom the body is taken out were evaluated retrospectively, and compared with the demographic features of 60 matched healthy children with the same age and gender.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 14.9±4.8 months, and of the patients 9 (53%) were males. The most common symptoms at admission were sudden onset of cough (76.5%) and wheezing (64.7%), while sunflower peel (47%) was the most commonly detected foreign body. Difference in lung aeration was the most common finding (76.5%) in radiological imagings, and foreign bodies were mostly removed from right bronchus (47%). While 76.5% of the patients had 5 or more households, this ratio was 46.6% in control group (p=0.008). Income level of patient group was significantly lower compared to control group (p=0.02). The rate of mothers who did not have high school and/or university education was higher (94.1%) than the control group (63.3%) (p=0.02).
Conclusion: Foreign body aspiration should be the first reason to be thought when there is a sudden onset of cough and wheezing in a child. Low socioeconomic level, to be in a crowded family and low education level of the mother should be evaluated among risk factors for foreign body aspirations.