European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
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Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol · Aug 2008
Review Multicenter StudyForeign bodies in the upper airways causing complications and requiring hospitalization in children aged 0-14 years: results from the ESFBI study.
Foreign body (FB) aspiration/inhalation is a serious problem because it is still a cause of death in children, especially among those younger than 4 years. The objective of this paper is to characterize the risk of complications and prolonged hospitalization due to foreign bodies (FB) in the upper airways in terms of the characteristics of the injured patients (age, gender), typology and features of the FBs, the circumstances of the accident and the hospitalization details. A retrospective study in the major hospitals of 19 European countries was realized on injuries occurred in the years 2000-2002 and identified by means of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes listed on hospital discharge records. ⋯ The most common FBs were nuts, seeds, berries, corn and beans. In general, small, round crunchy foods pose a risk of choking. Since prevention is the most essential key to deal with these types of injuries, more effort in caregivers' public education is warranted.