Removal of foreign bodies from the tracheobronchial tree

With a 5-yr period, 82 infants and children were seen with confirmed foreign body aspiration. Seventy-five of them underwent bronchoscopy for removal of the foreign body. There was no correlation between duration of symptoms and hospitalization, and patients who had aspirated peanuts required no longer hospital stay than those who aspirated other vegetable or nonvegetable matter. Comparison of these results with a similar series treated primarily with postural drainage indicates that a 24-hr trial of this therapy will clear the airway in about 80% of children.