Foreign Body Aspiration in Infants: Role of Self-Feeding

Abstract

Background: Foreign body aspiration (FBA) is a serious life-threatening condition in childhood. "Baby-led weaning (BLW)" is a popular method in which the babies are encouraged to self-feed to gain oral motor abilities. The role of BLW in FBA is controversial. A retrospective study was performed to evaluate the results of FBA in infants (<1 year of age) and its relation to the feeding method. Materials and Methods: Children who underwent bronchoscopy for FBA for the past 10 years were included. Infants (<1 year of age) were evaluated for age, gender, clinical findings, and the results of bronchoscopy. The type of feeding, including self-feeding or caregiver-assisted feeding, was noted. Results: The medical records of 826 patients who underwent bronchoscopy were evaluated. FBA was noted in 50.2% (n = 417) of cases. Only 9.07% (n = 75) of patients were <1 year of age and 67% (n = 50) of them had a foreign body according to the bronchoscopy. The mean age was 9 months (5-12 months) and 36% of them were male. When the feeding characteristics of patients were surveyed, 80% of cases aspirated when self-feeding and 14% aspirated during caregiver-assisted feeding. Conclusions: Self-feeding to promote oral motor function may cause FBA in infants. Emergent bronchoscopy is more common in infants and reveals the aspiration of foods that cannot be consumed safely in this age group.

Keywords: baby-led weaning; bronchoscopy; foreign body aspiration; infants.