[Endoscopic management of foreign bodies in the digestive tract]

From 1983 to 1989, the Unidad de Endoscopias has attended 424 cases of foreign bodies located in the gastrointestinal tract, most of them in the esophagus. The mean age of the patients was 49 years. The commonest foreign bodies were food particles and the most common symptom was acute dysphagia. The most frequent localization of impaction was the cricopharyngeal sphincter (Killian's mouth). In 89% of the cases the foreign body could be removed endoscopically. The most common underlying pathology was hiatal hernia. There were severe complications related to the presence of the foreign body in 4.5% of the cases; one death was due to aorto-esophageal fistula. Foreign bodies, mainly impacted food particles (p less than 0.001), are most frequent in patients over 65, mainly females (p less than 0.01).