(1062) The Evaluation of Children With Suspected Airway Foreign Bodies and the Association With Viral Illness

Introduction: Foreign body aspiration (FBA) in infants and young children is a common and potentially life-threatening event; there is a paucity of research that correlates foreign body aspiration with potential causes, such as existing illness. We hypothesize that ill children are more likely to present with FBA, and thus we seek to define the clinical spectrum of airway FBA in children to evaluate the potential etiology, outcome, and complications.

Methods: We conducted a single-institution retrospective study through review of Electronic Medical Records for all children who underwent endoscopic procedures for presumed airway foreign body between 2017 and 2022 at a quaternary children’s hospital.

Results: Eighty-two patients were included in the study, and 74 were found to have foreign bodies (FB) present during endoscopy exam. Thirty-four (45%) of the retrieved FBs were food particles. Of the eight patients who did not have a FB present, two had caregiver reports of URI symptoms prior to surgery and two additional patients had positive viral panels at time of presentation. Only 3 patients without FB had evidence of airway inflammation on endoscopic findings (edema or increased secretions). Seventeen of the 74 (23%) of patients with FBA had caregiver reports of URI symptoms and three of these patients also had positive viral panels at time of presentation. Sixty-four of the 74 (86%) patients with FBA had abnormal chest radiographic findings on plain film imaging. Of the thirty-four patients with food particles, nine (26%) had caregiver report of URI, one (0.3%) had positive viral panel, and thirty (88%) had abnormal radiographic findings.

Conclusions: There may be an association between URI and an increased risk of foreign body aspiration amongst pediatric patients. Further study with multi-center data would be helpful to further characterize this relationship and guide counseling for parents.