Abstract
Management of foreign bodies is very important in the field of broncho-esophagology. The history of foreign body removal parallels human history. Every foreign body has its own episode. Young mothers know that foreign bodies are dangerous for children. Thus, every mother usually screams when a child tries to chew on a stone. Then, the surprised child frequently inhales the foreign body. Every health institution not only has to provide the best training and an experienced team but also must make public announcements to prevent foreign body cases. Many cases of foreign body aspiration are not children but adults. Case series from the last decade reflect that children younger than 5 years of age account for approximately 80% of cases and children younger than 3 years of age account for 70%. Boys are involved more frequently than girls at a ratio of approximately 2:1. Differences between countries relate not to the rate of occurrence or method of treatment but rather to the type of foreign body. For example, the most common foreign body inhaled in Japan, the United States and Europe is the peanut, whereas in Egypt, the watermelon seed is the prime culprit and dried pumpkin seeds are most common in Greece. During the last three years Japanese publications listed over 150 cases of digestive tract perforation due to foreign body. Broncho-esophagologist has to care not only for throat cases but also other digestive tract locations of foreign body problems.
