title: Aerodigestive tract foreign bodies in the older child and adolescent.
abstract: This study was undertaken in order to establish the incidence of aerodigestive tract foreign body accidents among older children and adolescents, and to investigate the circumstances surrounding these events. A review of patients treated over a 5-year period identified 367 children from whom aerodigestive tract foreign bodies were removed. Seventeen percent of these patients were 5 years of age or older. Among these children, 88% aspirated nonfood items, half of which were school supplies; 78% of the group 5 years old and under aspirated food items. Among older children with esophageal foreign bodies, 31% had food impactions, compared with 7% in the younger group; 70% of these children had a history of some anatomic abnormality of the esophagus. These data suggest that older children and adolescents represent a distinct group of patients at risk for foreign body accidents. Pediatricians and parents of children in this age group should discourage the practice of using the oral cavity as a repository for school supplies, and should stress the need for adequate preparation and mastication of food, particularly among children with esophageal abnormalities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Lemberg
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Darrow
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Holinger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D001980:Bronchi; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004947:Esophagus; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007830:Larynx; D008297:Male; D010614:Pharynx; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014132:Trachea