Surgical Complications From Foreign Body Ingestion in Paediatric Age: An Italian Retrospective Multicentre Study

To retrospectively collect clinical data of children affected by surgical complications resulting from foreign body ingestion, in order to describe the features of the involved foreign bodies and to analyse the different surgical complications related to their ingestion.

We recruited all patients aged between 0 and 18 years who underwent surgery due to surgical complications following foreign body ingestion over the past 20 years. Clinical data until hospital discharge and clinical outcomes were carefully recorded, including children with intestinal perforation, intestinal obstruction or prolonged foreign body retention.

Data were collected from 42 children. Out of them, 31/42 (73.8%) showed intestinal perforation, 6/42 (14.3%) intestinal obstruction, and 5/42 (11.9%) prolonged foreign body retention requiring surgical removal. Among the ingested foreign bodies, 18/42 (42.9%) were magnets, 8/42 (19%) were sharp/pointed objects, 9/42 (21.4%) were disc batteries, and 4/42 (9.5%) were bezoars.

Our study depicts the largest ever-reported collection of surgical complications from foreign body ingestion in paediatric patients. The study findings provide a better understanding of the epidemiology of foreign bodies causing severe intestinal complications. Additionally, assessing the actual risk associated with the different features of the ingested foreign bodies may support more effective patient management.