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. 2021 Dec 1;37(12):e1044-e1050.
doi: 10.1097/PEC.0000000000001894.

What Do Saudi Children Ingest?: A 10-Year Retrospective Analysis of Ingested Foreign Bodies From a Tertiary Care Center

Ahmed H Ibrahim  1 , Abdurahman Andijani  1 , Muhammed Abdulshakour  1 , Sulwan Algain  1 , Asma Abu Thamrah  1 , Mariam M Ali  1 , Haifa Marwah  1 , Anwaar Aldaher  1 , Salman Bashir  2 , Badr Alsaleem  3 , Ali Asery  3 , Abdulrahman Al-Hussaini
Affiliations

What Do Saudi Children Ingest?: A 10-Year Retrospective Analysis of Ingested Foreign Bodies From a Tertiary Care Center

Ahmed H Ibrahim et al. Pediatr Emerg Care. .

Abstract

Objectives: Few studies investigated the correlation between foreign body (FB) ingestion and occurrence of complications. The local literature is limited to case reports and small case series on esophageal FBs. We conducted this study to identify the high-risk factors predisposing to complications among Saudi children ingesting FBs.

Methods: The medical records of 436 children (boys, 59.6%; mean age, 4.4 ± 2.7 years) presenting to the emergency department (ED) between 2007 and 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Relative risk analysis of clinical variables was performed between 2 groups: The first group constituted children without FB-related complications (n = 389), and the second group included those with major complications (n = 14). Major complication was defined as any event associated with significant morbidity such as esophageal stricture, esophageal perforation, esophageal fistula, and intestinal perforation or fistula formation.

Results: Most of the 436 cases presented between ages 2 and 4 years (35.1%). Coin was the most commonly ingested FB (22.9%) followed by button battery (19.5%). Most of the ingested FBs passed spontaneously without intervention (69%). Upper endoscopy was performed in 121 cases (27.7%). By multivariate analysis, the variables that were significantly associated with major complications included the following: very young age group (0-2 years; odds ratio [OR], 11.5), button battery (OR, 4), FB impacted at upper esophagus (OR, 8.7), and longer time duration to visit the ED (OR, 14.7).

Conclusion: Button battery impaction at upper esophagus in very young children and delayed presentation to the ED were the most significant risk factors of FB-related complications.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Impact and association of foreign bodies among children.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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