Can Radiolucent Foreign Bodies Be Identified?

Discussion Foreign bodies are common problems for young children particularly ages 2-4 years who will mouth many objects and aspirate or swallow them. Children will also place foreign objects in other body orifices such as ears or noses. It is also not uncommon that young girls will inadvertently have toilet paper caught in the vaginal area during hygiene. Many of these foreign bodies may work their way out naturally not causing any problems, or may come to attention later because of chronic problems such as a foul-smell or discharge. Older children may tell adults that they have placed a foreign body in an orifice and thus have it come to attention. Because mouthing food and non-food objects is common in young children, it is not uncommon that the children will cough or choke. Usually this expels the objects and fixes the problem. Parents may not even notice the episode as coughing and choking in general occurs frequently in young children. Some children will have more significant problems if the objects lodges in the airway or at particular points in the gastrointestinal tract, and therefore have continued symptoms and come to medical attention. For example, in a 2013 retrospective review of patients who underwent bronchoscopy for suspected radiolucent foreign body aspiration, most were witnessed events (81%) in a ~2.6 year old (average age), who continued to have problems with wheezing (64%), coughing (43%), choking (39%), stridor (6%) or lethargy (0.7%). Bronchoscopy fou...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news