The clinical assessment of foreign body ingestions: Experience in a developing country

Foreign body (FB) ingestion is an important emergency in low- to middle-income countries. Our study sought to identify which clinical and radiological findings best predict upper gastrointestinal FB impaction. Amongst 149 adolescents and adults presenting to two Jamaican hospitals between 2018 and 2...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tropical doctor 2023-04, Vol.53 (2), p.210-217
Main Authors: Barnett, Francis, Duncan, Alfred, Ramsay, Zachary, Ramsay, Taralee, Simmons, Quincy, Brooks, Tracey-Ann, Channer, Guyan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Developing Countries
Eating
Esophagoscopy
Esophagus - diagnostic imaging
Foreign Bodies - diagnostic imaging
Humans
Retrospective Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Foreign body (FB) ingestion is an important emergency in low- to middle-income countries. Our study sought to identify which clinical and radiological findings best predict upper gastrointestinal FB impaction. Amongst 149 adolescents and adults presenting to two Jamaican hospitals between 2018 and 2020, FB's were found at 31% of telescopic laryngoscopies and 60% of rigid oesophagoscopies. Commonest sites of impaction were the tonsils at laryngoscopy (15/46) and proximal oesophagus at oesophagoscopy (17/22). Odds of pharyngeal impaction were higher with fish bone ingestion, persistent discomfort, perceived location of discomfort above the cricoid cartilage and symptoms noted during a meal. Persistent discomfort and FB shadow on X-ray imaging produced higher odds of oesophageal impaction. Simple clinical and radiological assessments are useful in predicting FB impaction in resource-limited settings.
ISSN:0049-4755
1758-1133
DOI:10.1177/00494755221147355