Anemia and Foreign Body Aspiration in Pediatrics

Introduction: Foreign body aspiration (FBA) is a life threatening medical condition and considered a surgical emergency in patients with acute symptoms. Eating disorders like pica may increase the rate of foreign body ingestion especially in toddlers with immature airway protective reflexes. Iron deficiency is the common cause of both pica and anemia in infancy and this article evaluates the incidence of anemia among patients with FBA. Materials and Method: Medical records of 141 children with aspirated foreign body were reviewed. Control group consisted of patients who had been operated because of inguinal hernia considering the same exclusion criteria and age range and sex distribution. RBC indexes were assessed and incidence of anemia was evaluated and compared between FBA patients and control group. Results: Anemia according to age matched Hemoglobin was observed in 34.8% of FBA cases and 15.6% in control group so anemia in FBA group was significantly more common than control group. Conclusion: Screening and early detection of IDA in childhood, especially in high risk group should be considered a public health care priority to prevent its direct or indirect life-threatening complications such as foreign body aspiration.