Background: Foreign body (FB) inhalation is a potentially life-threatening emergency also in clinically stable patients as the situation could worsen at any moment. There is varying opinion regarding the urgency for removal of inhaled FBs, and there are no guidelines in the literature. The aim of our study was to present our experience with FB aspiration in children and adults from 1993, when we introduced our Thoracic Endoscopy Service with the availability "on call" of a bronchologist 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, defining a dedicated protocol together with our anaesthesiologists for prompt intervention in this situation.
Methods: We consulted our database and examined the records of all patients undergoing bronchoscopy for suspected FB aspiration from 1993 onwards; our previous experience of 11 children and 14 adults with FBs from 1981 to 1992 was also included to compare the results obtained.
Results: In this period, we removed 159 FBs (in 70 children and 89 adults) and performed 23 negative bronchoscopies in children and 6 in adults for suspected aspiration. All FBs were removed successfully. We were able to intervene immediately also in critical situations: in 60/70 children within 24 hours of admission to hospital, in 44 of these 60 on the actual day of admission, thus avoiding a potentially dangerous delay between aspiration and removal. We had no complications, and no patients needed surgery.
Conclusions: We conclude that an efficient organization involving a dedicated protocol of intervention, trained staff available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, appropriate setting, and the right instrumentation enabled us to tackle this important emergency.