dc.description.abstract | Study background: Aero-digestive foreign bodies (F.B.s) are increasingly being
encountered in the surgical units in many hospitals. F.B. lodgement in the aero-digestive
tract constitutes an important cause of significant morbidity and mortality in patients.
Whereas it is notably common, a dearth of information exists on its patterns, treatment,
and associated outcomes.
Broad objective: The broad objective was to establish the pattern, management, and
outcomes of foreign body aspiration and ingestion at Kenyatta National Hospital.
Study design: Retrospective cohort study.
Study site: Kenyatta National Hospital, records department.
Participants and methods: All patients who were admitted and treated for foreign body
aspiration and ingestion at the KNH from January 2017 to December 2021 were recruited
through consecutive sampling. Data was collected on demographic and clinical
characteristics, treatment methods, and outcomes (determined by length of hospital stay,
mortality, and morbidity) of F.B. aspiration and ingestion.
Data analysis: The collected data was entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for
the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Descriptive statistics such as means and medians
were used in the description of the characteristics of the study participants. Chi-square
tests were used in comparing categorical variables and proportions across groups.
Continuous variables were compared using a student t-test.
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A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Data was presented in
written reports, frequency tables, bars, and pie charts.
Results: A total of 196 participants were recruited, aero-digestive F.Bs occurred more
commonly in the paediatric population with a mode of 2-3 years, and a female
preponderance at 53.06%. Symptoms lasted an average of 32.6 days, with an SD of 136.
Endoscopy (83.67%) was the most commonly utilized method of extraction. Foreign
bodies commonly lodged in the esophagus (73.47%), then bronchi (18.37%), and trachea
(1.53%). Hospital stay averaged at 4.5 days with an SD of 8.1, and no mortalities were
reported. Morbidity was observed in 9.18% of the patients.
Conclusion: The study revealed aero-digestive foreign bodies were encountered more
commonly in the pediatric population, with coins being the most frequently ingested and
button batteries causing the most morbidity.
A high index of suspicion for foreign body ingestion and aspiration should be maintained for
children with a history of treatment for respiratory tract infection and those with overt
symptoms such as drooling, dysphagia, odynophagia, and weight loss.
Surgery was performed in patients who the foreign body could not be extracted via
endoscopy and for longstanding foreign bodies, while watchful waiting was an option for
ingestions that showed distal migration on imaging. Early diagnosis, referral, and
intervention are crucial to alleviate associated morbidity | en_US |
dc.description.department | a
Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi, ; bDepartment of Mental Health, School of Medicine,
Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya | |