Non food foreign body injuries.

RATIONALE AND AIM: The aim of the present study is to acquire a better understanding of Non Food Foreign Bodies (NFFB) injuries in children with particular regard to the quantification of the risk of complications and hospitalization associated with patient characteristics, FB features, FB location and circumstances of the accident, as emerging from the SUSY Safe Web-Registry.

METHODS: The present study uses data provided by the SUSY Safe Project, a DG SANCO co-funded project which was aimed to collect as many scientific data as possible regarding Foreign Bodies (FB) injuries in children aged 0-14 years and to serve as a basis for a knowledge-based consumer protection activity in the Europe market. FBs were characterized by size, shape and consistency. Descriptive statistics (absolute and relative number or median, I and III quartile according to the categorical or continuous variable, respectively) were calculated for each considered non food item characteristics; FB features distribution by children class age and site of obstruction were assessed. Two different outcomes were considered: hospitalization and complication. FBs which most frequently cause complications were identified. The association between children age, adult presence, object characteristics and outcomes was computed using crude odds ratios and the related 95% confidence intervals.

RESULTS: 16,878 FB injuries in children aged 0-14 yrs have been recorded in the Susy Safe databases. FB type was specified in 10,564 cases; among them 7820 (74%) were due to a non food item. Almost two thirds of injuries occurred in patients 3 years or more old. 53% of patients were males, while 47% were females. When injury happened, the great part of children (86%) was playing. Almost 30% (2339) of injuries happened under adults' supervision. Complications occurred in 299 cases and the most documented was infections (10% of cases) followed by perforation (5%).

CONCLUSIONS: The inhalation/aspiration of a FB, as well as the ingestion and the insertion in the orifices of a FB may result in significant morbidity. Particularly, long-standing or hazardous foreign bodies can cause extensive damage. Some objects, because of their composition, contour, or location, are particularly hazardous: for instance, objects with sharp edges pose a significant risk of laceration and perforation, while fragments of toys have been found only in 2 cases. Parents are frequently unconscious of hazard related with some objects and they are not adequately able to promptly recognize dangerous objects and risky situations. Moreover, also clinicians seem to pay little attention to adult role in the dynamic of the accident: in fact in case series descriptions, data regarding adult presence are often under-reported. On the contrary, since many injuries to children cannot be prevented without some degree of active behavior on the part of parents, the dissemination of information regarding safe behaviors and the implementation of educational strategies aiming to improve parent's attention toward this issue could be fundamental in preventing injuries and need to be promoted by family pediatricians and health practitioners.