Clinical profile and outcome of foreign body ingestion in a tertiary care center in India: An observational study.

Introduction: Foreign body ingestion (FBI) is frequently encountered in the pediatric population and sometimes requires emergency removal. This study aimed to investigate the demographical and clinical profile, nature of foreign body (FB), and endoscopic management of FBI in a tertiary care center in India.

Materials and methods: This is a retrospective observational study of 370 patients with FBI who underwent endoscopic removal at our center from May 2019 to April 2024. Descriptive and analytical statistical tests were used to analyze the data.

Results: Out of 370 patients, 61.4% of FBs were blunt, 29.2% were sharp, and 9.5% were corrosive objects. Coin was the most common FB observed (46.5%). Furthermore, 63.78% of patients were asymptomatic. There was a positive correlation between the endoscopic location of FB and symptoms ( P = 0.030). Mucosal injuries were seen in only 34% of patients. There was a positive correlation ( P = 0.012) between the morphological nature of FB and mucosal injury. We found a positive correlation ( P = 0.034) between the size of the FB and its possibility of spontaneous passage in the GI tract. Endoscopic removal of FB was successful in 83.2% of patients.

Conclusions: Sharp and corrosive FBs should be removed on an emergency basis irrespective of their symptoms, location, and time since ingestion to avoid complications. FBs with a diameter of more than 2 cm and a length of more than 5 cm should be removed endoscopically because of their lower chances of spontaneous passage.