East African medical journal
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Fifty eight children underwent rigid bronchoscopy under general anaesthesia for suspected aspirated foreign bodies. There were 36 boys and 22 girls with a median age of thirty three months. Physical examination showed decreased breath sounds and wheezing over the affected site in forty seven cases. ⋯ Post endoscopic complications included mild to moderate croup in fifteen patients (26%), fever in four and pneumothorax in one. Rigid bronchoscopy of aspirated foreign bodies in children is a safe, effective and often life saving procedure. Morbidity is low and although mortality was 1.8% in this series zero mortality should be achievable.