A statistical study was made of foreign bodies in the trachea and bronchi of 34 patients (male:female=23:11) hospitalized at our clinic between 1982 and 1998. Nineteen patients were under 3 years of age. Fifteen cases (44%) had aspirated peanuts. The chief complaints were coughing, wheezing and fever. In radiological diagnoses, emphysema and atelectasis were found in some cases. MRI should be performed when the possibility of a foreign body is not completely excluded, even though it is not apparently suggested by an interview, physical examination, or chest X-ray.
Foreign bodies were found under direct bronchoscopy in the trachea of 5 patients, in the right bronchus in 17 patients and in the left bronchus in 12 patients. These were all removed by means of a ventilation bronchoscope under general anesthesia without any complications.
