Austere Foreign Body Injuries in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Background: Pediatric foreign body (FB) injuries to the nasal, aural, and/or oral cavities are well documented. Description of austere foreign body (AFB) injuries involving the rectum, vagina, or penis eludes the current pediatric literature. Austere FBs can be difficult to identify and have the potential to cause serious consequences. We aim to characterize AFB injuries by children and adolescents presenting to emergency departments (EDs) in the United States. Methods:The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System was queried to include subjects aged 0 to 25 years using a primary search term for diagnosis of foreign body from the period of January 2008 to January 2017. The consumer product and the body part involved (ie, rectal, vaginal, penile) were analyzed. Taylor series linearization generated national estimates. A trend analysis was performed using the Cochrane Armitage test of trend.

Epidemiology and Trends over Time of Foreign Body Injuries in the Pediatric Emergency Department

“…FB injuries can involve different anatomical sites [9], such as the aerodigestive tract [10], the eyes [11] and, less frequently, the genitals and rectum [12]. The objects responsible for injuries can be of different shapes and natures [9], such as organic foreign bodies (i.e., food items) [13] or magnetic foreign bodies [14].…”