title: Review of oesophageal foreign bodies in Harare Central Hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review our experience in the management of patients with oesophageal foreign bodies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Harare Central Hospital, Harare, Zimbabwe.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty eight patients who presented with foreign body ingestion from October 1990 to December 1991.
  
  
  METHODS
  All but two patients underwent rigid oesophagoscopic examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty five of the cases with foreign bodies in the oesophagus had their foreign bodies retrieved by rigid oesophagoscopic procedure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high index of suspicion will help in early diagnosis especially in children who present with recent and inexplicable onset of respiratory symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ali
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004945:Esophagoscopy / Q000379:methods; D004947:Esophagus; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015030:Zimbabwe