Study on Prevalence of Foreign Bodies in ENT

Abstract

Introduction- Foreign body is a substance that doesn’t belong to a location where it is found. Ear,nose and throat are common location for occurence of foreign bodies. It is a common problem encountered in both adults and children. Objective- 1) To analyse the different kinds of foreign bodies in ear ,nose and throat and their prevalence in different age groups. 2) To analyse the most prevalent site of foreign body among ear, nose and throat.
Methods- A cross-sectional study was performed in our tertiary care hospital in Navi-mumbai. The study period was from august 2017 to august 2019. The study population were the patients who came to the out patient department and emergency room of this hospital.
Result- A total of 100 patients as sample size with foreign bodies in ear, nose or throat were taken on first come basis. 62 were males and 38 were females. Of the 100 patients, 36 had foreign body in ear, 47 in nose and 17 in the throat. The foreign body was removed under local anaesthesia in 4% patients, with general anaesthesia in 30 % and with no anaesthesia at all in 66% patients. The most common age group affected was less than 10 years among both male and female patients.
Conclusion- The most frequent site of foreign body occurrence was found to be nose. The most common site requiring general anaesthesia for foreign body removal was throat. Although most of the foreign bodies could be removed without any anaesthesia in the emergency room or outpatient department.