Aspirated tracheobronchial foreign bodies: a Jordanian experience

We conducted a descriptive study of 524 patients who had been suspected of having aspirated a foreign body and who had been evaluated at one of two major hospitals in Jordan from January 1993 through December 2003. A tracheobronchial foreign body was found in 386 of these patients (73.7%). Most of them (66.8%) were younger than 2 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 3 to 2. The mean duration between aspiration and diagnosis was 48 hours. The most common presenting symptoms were cough (90.4% of foreign-body-positive patients), diminished air entry (66.8%), and dyspnea (65.0%). The most frequently aspirated objects were seeds (35.4%), particularly watermelon seeds, nuts (26.8%), and vegetables (25.3%). The most common site of foreign-body impaction was the right bronchus (60.9%). Rigid bronchoscopy was used to remove the foreign body in all cases. The complication rate was 3.4%. Our experience with aspirated tracheobronchial foreign bodies in Jordan was not substantially different from that reported in other countries. The only difference was that the most frequently aspirated foreign body in our study was seeds.