Foreign Body Aspiration in Children: Retrospective Case Series and Literature Update

Background: Foreign body aspiration is common among older infants and toddlers and is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. It may escape notice by the physicians due to lack of knowledge of the exact history, high variability of clinical presentation, variable latency of the onset of symptoms, and inconclusive radiographical findings. Case report: We present a case series about children diagnosed with foreign body aspiration referred to the Pediatric Respiratory Unit of San Marco Hospital in Catania between January 2018 and November 2022. Data regarding demographic characteristics, symptoms, and type of foreign body were collected and analyzed. Conclusion: Early diagnosis is the key to therapeutic success and effective management of foreign body aspiration. We will review the literature to highlight the diagnostic difficulties related to this condition and the useful tools to recognize and manage it. The most essential part of foreign body aspiration treatment is prevention and the need to educate parents and primary care physicians. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance to consider airway foreign bodies as a cause of cough unresponsive to therapy, recurrent wheezing, and relapsing pneumonia.