Age-Specific Differences in Foreign Bodies Ingested by Children: A Cohort Study of 252 Japanese Cases

Abstract

Background and Objectives: When children accidentally ingest foreign bodies, they may be unable to communicate adequately; it is often difficult to identify the causative foreign body unless someone is watching over them. In such instances, to identify the causative foreign body during clinical practice, we aimed to determine if it varies according to age. Materials and Methods: From April 2013 to June 2018, 252 records of pediatric patients with a confirmed diagnosis of foreign-body ingestion were retrospectively examined in a Japanese university hospital. Comparisons among multiple age groups, according to type of ingested foreign body, were analyzed using Kruskal‒Wallis tests. The differences between the individual data were tested using the Steel‒Dwass test. Results: The median age of the patients was 15 months, and of the total patients, 140 were boys (55.5%). The types of foreign bodies ingested were as follows, in order of frequency: cigarettes ( n = 44, 17%, median age: 12 months), plastics ( n = 43, 17%, median age: 11 months), chemicals ( n = 27, 11%, median age: 13 months), internal medicines ( n = 26, 10%, median age: 33 months), and metals ( n = 26, 10%, median age: 35 months). The median age was significantly different among the types of causative foreign bodies ( p < 0.01). The patient age for the ingestion of cigarettes was significantly younger than that for ingesting metals or coins. The age for ingesting internal medicines was significantly older than that for ingesting plastics, cigarettes, paper, or chemicals ( p < 0.01). Conclusions: The causative foreign body ingested differed according to age. This will be valuable information for physicians that encounter pediatric patients who may have ingested an unknown foreign body in Japanese pediatric emergency or general practice settings.