Clinical features and treatment outcomes of airway foreign body aspiration in adults

There are few reports comparing flexible and rigid bronchoscopy in adult foreign body (FB) aspiration. The aim of this retrospective study was to review the clinical characteristics, outcomes and factors associated with success in adult patients who underwent flexible or rigid bronchoscopy for airway FB removal. We retrospectively reviewed the records of 103 patients who underwent bronchoscopy to remove airway FB at Samsung Medical Center, South Korea from January 1999 to March 2017. The median patient age was 64 years, and 70% were males. Among the 54 patients who underwent flexible bronchoscopy as first-line treatment, 43 (80%) patients had their FB successfully removed. Previous attempts at other hospitals was significantly associated with failed flexible bronchoscopy [9/11 (82%) 3/43 (7%), P