Management of foreign bodies in the ear, nose and throat in children: a review of 829 cases from Northern Anatolia

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate cases of of ear, nose and pharyngeal (ENT) foreign body (FB) in pediatric patients referred to the pediatric emergency department of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology in Tokat State Hospital (Turkey). Methods: The paper comprises a retrospective study of all ENT foreign bodies presented to the pediatric emergency Department of Otorhinolaryngology in Tokat State Hospital (Turkey) between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2018. Subject to evaluation were also demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, types and anatomic locations of FBs, locations of FB by age groups, the method used to remove FBs and the distribution of FB cases by months. Results: A total of 829 FB cases were evaluated in this study. The mean age of patients was 47.8 ± 31.4 months. Of all patients, 404 (48.5%) were male, and 425 (51.2%) were female. The nose (58.7%) and the ear (20.2%) were the most common anatomical locations followed by mouth/pharynx/tonsil (12.3%), esophagus (6.2%) and the laryngotracheobronchial tree (2.4%). The most common FBs in different locations were beads in the nose (30.8%), beads in the ear (32.1%), fishbones in the mouth/pharynx/tonsil (56.8%), nuts and peanuts in laryngotracheobronchial tree (70%) and a coin/disc battery in the esophagus (80.7%). Conclusion: FB in ENT is among the emergency conditions that require different diagnostic and treatment approaches based on anatomic localizations. Proper vision, adequate equipment and immobilization are important in the removal of ENT foreign bodies in children.