Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Foreign Bodies in Children: Presentation and Managment

Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Foreign Bodies

Abstract

Objective: To describe the presentation and outcome of upper gastrointestinal (GI) foreign bodies in children.
Study Design: Descriptive case series.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition, the Children’s Hospital & the Institute of Child Health Lahore, from Jan 2016 to Dec 2016.
Material and Methods: Fifty eight children with history of foreign body ingestion were included in the study through non probability purposive sampling technique. Children underwent upper GI endoscopy flexible endoscope under general anesthesia. The data such as age, sex, mode of presentation, type of foreign body and site of impaction was recorded on a specially designed proforma. Qualitative variables including gender, type of foreign body, clinical features, site of impaction etc were expressed in term of frequencies and percentages while age was expressed as mean and standard deviation.
Results: Among 58 patients 53.4% (n=31) were male and 46.6% (n=27) were female with age range from 2 months to 15 years. Majority of cases had developed dysphagia (70.7%). Coins were the most common foreign bodies encountered (32.8%) followed by button batteries (31%). Lower esophagus was the most common site of impaction of foreign bodies (65.5%).
Conclusion: Coins and button batteries are the common upper GI foreign bodies with lower esophagus being the most common site of impaction. Commonest presenting feature was dysphagia. Endoscopic retrieval of foreign bodies under general anesthesia is a safe mode of treatment.