Correlative Factors for Types of Tracheobronchial Foreign Bodies Encountered in Children

Objective To characterize the correlative factors for types of tracheobronchial foreign bodies (TFBs) encountered in children. Methods All included patients diagnosed with TFB underwent rigid bronchoscopy as the first surgery in the Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. The data of 1026 patients aged 0–18 years were retrospectively collected between February 2019 and January 2022. Results About 94.44% of the children with TFB had organic FBs, among which, peanuts were the most common FBs, followed by melon seeds and walnuts. The most common inorganic FBs included pen points or caps, plastic toys, and plastic papers. As compared to the children with organic FBs, those with inorganic FBs consisted of a higher proportion of children aged ≥3 years old, a time before surgery of >7 days, dyspnea, FBs size of >10 mm, longer operation time, more than two operation procedures, and atelectasis. On the other hand, the proportion of children with aspiration history, cough, and obstructive emphysema in the inorganic FB group was lower as compared to the organic FBs ( P< .05). Conclusions The related factors related to the patient’s characteristics, symptoms, operation situations, and preoperative complications can be predicted based on the identification of FB type.