Publication:

Profile of endoscopic removal of foreign bodies from upper gastrointestinal tract at a tertiary care hospital in North India

Background Foreign body (FB) ingestion is a common clinical problem seen in medical practice. Its size can range from a pin head size to coin size. The aim of this study is to report the outcome of patients coming with FBs in their gastro intestinal tracts (GIT) using upper GI endoscopy (UGIE).

Methods The records of all the patients who presented to the department of gastroenterology and who underwent UGIE between May 2015 to May 2017 were reviewed with details on age, sex, type of FBs and its anatomical location and outcome.

Results A total of 31 patients with history of FB ingestion, were subjected to UGIE, over a period of 2 years. The patients were in the age group of 3 years to 100 years. The mean age was 51.27±20.63 years, with males constituting 74.19% of the patients. Most patients were in the age group of 41-60 years (41.9%) followed by 21-40 years age group (22.58%). The majority of FBs found were pieces of bone (n=9) and meat bolus (n=7), making 29.03% and 22.58% respectively. The other FBs included food bolus, coins, dentures, fruit seeds and round worm impaction.

Conclusions It is recommended that all those patients with a history of FB ingestion should be evaluated and if it is located in the upper gastrointestinal tract, should be subjected to UGIE for endoscopic removal.