Socio-demographic Study of Foreign Bodies of Ear, Nose and Throat of Children in Western Uttar Pradesh

Foreign bodies in the ear, nose and throat are one of the most common emergencies faced in healthcare settings worldwide.

The objective of our study was to analyze the sociodemographic factors associated with self inserted foreign body insertion in ear, nose and throat in children and to review the modes of presentation and management of inserted FBs in our setting.

A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted from October 2014 to July 2015 in the outpatient department and emergency on all pediatric patients with foreign body in the ear, nose and throat socio-demographic and clinical data was collected using a predesigned and pretested questionnaire and analyzed.

Analysis showed a predominance of 0–5 year's age group, male preponderance (54%). nasal foreign body was on the top (46%) with ornamental bead being the commonest FB in nose (32%) Grain/seeds were the commonest among aural (44%) and coins among throat FBs (40%). Majority of the cases of nasal and aural FBs were asymptomatic (68%) and were managed in the OPD and ER (60%), whereas throat foreign bodies were mostly symptomatic (88%) and required emergency removal in operation theatre (76%).

There is a need for increasing awareness of parents and care given about the rise of foreign body insertion in children and avoidance of self treatment, training the primary care physician and emergency medical officers in the management of simple cases and early referral of difficult cases to otorhinolaryngologists.