ASPIRAÇÃO DE CORPO ESTRANHO EM MENORES DE 15 ANOS: UMA DÉCADA DE EXPERIÊNCIA

Abstract

Airway aspiration of foreign body (FB) is a universal problem and an important cause of morbidity and mortality especially for children and the elderly. FB aspiration was evaluated in 72 children and teenagers varying from 7 months to 15 years of age who underwent rigid bronchoscopy at the CMUH (Children Maternal University Hospital), in São Luís-MA/ Brazil, for FB aspiration in the period from 1995 to 2005. For data collecting, an index card was filled out for each patient. Epi-info and Bio-estata programs were used for processing and statistical analysis. A major prevalence of FB aspiration from 1998 through 2001 was observed. Most patients were from the countryside (55.6%). The predominant age was the firsts three years of life (81.9%). The prevalence was greater among the male sex (63.9%). In 83.3% of the cases the initial diagnosis was FB aspiration. The elapsed time between the aspiration and the bronchoscopy was greater than 72h (52.8 %). The most frequent site was the right lung (38.9 %). The most common types of FB found were of organic nature (83.3 %). The most prevailing radiological finding was hypotransparence (56.9%). Bronchitis was the most frequently reported complication related to FB aspiration (45.9%), and glottis edema was a major complication upon bronchoscopy (47.6%), with no deaths reported in the studied group. It is concluded that bronchoscopy is a safe, highly sensible and efficient procedure for the diagnosis and treatment of FB aspiration, and that a late diagnosis suggests a need for better qualification of the health professionals.