Statistical Analyses of Esophageal and Bronchial Foreign Bodies.

Over 5 year period from 1991 to 1995, seventy-two patients with foreign bodies in the esophagus (n=62) and bronchus (n=10) were treated in our clinic. Most of the patients with esophageal foreign bodies were in their sixties and patients ≤3 years. The most common esophageal foreign body was a fish bone (37%), followed by a press-through-pack (PTP; 15 cases), and coins (6 cases). Twenty-seven of 28 fish bone or PTP foreign bodies were located in the first narrow part of the esophagus; while 9 of 15 coin or meat foreign bodies were located in other regions. Rigid esophagoscopy was used in about 70% of patients with fish bones, PTP or meat; electronic fiberscopy was used in about 25% of the patients. A balloon-tip catheter was useful in 3 of 6 patients with coins. Esophagotomy was performed in only 2 cases with fish bones. The number of cases with PTP was increased markedly in the present study as compared with our reports in 1950-1989. Patients with bronchial foreign bodies were most commonly 1 year of age (5 cases). Of 10 bronchial foreign bodies, 5 were peanuts and 3 were dental materials. Foreign bodies were found in the left main bronchus of 6 patients and in the right of 4. All bronchial foreign bodies were removed with bronchoscopy under general anesthesia. An educational campaign is needed to decrease the number of patients with esophageal and bronchial foreign bodies.