Rais Uddin Siddiqui, Rafique K K.
Tracheobronchial foreign bodies at Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad.
J Liaquat Uni Med Health Sci Jan ;3(1):3-6.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse presentation of tracheobronchial foreign body aspiration, their management and associated complications in our set up. DESIGN: Descriptive study SETTING: Department of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad, Sindh – Pakistan from January 2001 to December 2003. METHODS: Medical records of 30 cases of foreign body aspiration in children and adult patients were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The highest incidence of foreign body aspiration was seen in children within ages of 2 to 5 years. Most of the cases were admitted in emergency with presentation as sudden attack of cough with a choking sensation followed by breathlessness with or without vomiting. In most of the cases radiographic confirmation was not seen but all cases undergone bronchoscopy. Removal of suspected foreign body from the tracheobronchial tree was done under general anesthesia using rigid bronchoscope with a telescope. In 29 cases, the foreign body aspiration was done without any complication. Beetle nuts were the commonest foreign body followed by plastic whistle seen impacted in the main bronchi. CONCLUSION: The symptoms of an aspirated foreign body do not differ from the other pulmonary disorders, however, in the presence of positive history, no time should be spared to conduct the bronchoscopic examination and its removal to save the life of patient and minimize the complications.

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