Clinical characteristics of preschool children with tracheal foreign bodies in Xingtai district:An analysis of 340 cases

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics of preschool children undergoing removal of foreign body from trachea and explore the prevention methods. Methods Three hundred and forty children under six who had undergone tracheal foreign body removal surgery from June 2013 to May 2017 in the Eye Hospital of Hebei Province were enrolled in this study. The age, sex, location, duration, and type of foreign body were analyzed to provide evidences for prevention. Results There were 225 boys and 115 girls, and 92.3% (314) of them were under the age of three. Foreign body located at right bronchus in 164 cases, left bronchus in 140 cases, and trachea in 36 cases. Foreign body type included peanuts, melon seeds, walnuts and other nuts (319 cases, 93.8%), fragile foreign body such as fries (9 cases), other foreign bodies like apple or plastic (12 cases). Time to onset ranged from one hour to 120 day, including 207 cases (60.9%) within one day, 52 cases (15.3%) in two to three days, 81 cases (23.8%) with more than 4 days. Conclusion Preschool children aged from 1 to 3 years are high risk population for trachea foreign bodies. The main types of foreign body are nuts such as peanuts. Parents and society should pay attention to it in order to reduce the accidents.