Nasal foreign bodies: our experience

Background: The experience of a mother of a child with a foreign body stuck in its nasal cavity can be quite panicky and horrifying. The nasal foreign bodies are one of the commonest emergencies in the department of otorhinolaryngology. The common foreign body objects that are removed from the nasal cavity includes beads, pencil butts, peas or other grains, seeds, sponge, stones, paper bits, erasers, metallic objects, crayons, batteries.Methods: An observational prospective study was performed at the department of otorhinolaryngology, government medical college, Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir. In this study we examined 120 cases of foreign body nose that had presented to us from March 2019 up to March 2020. Once detected a written consent was obtained from the patient’s attendants after duly explaining the involved risks to the child. Thereafter the foreign bodies were removed using appropriate instruments. Microsoft Excel tool were used to analyze and interpretate the data.Results: Amongst the 120 patients, there were 23 adults and 97 children under 10 years. Study included 72 males and 48 females. The 86 patients had a clear history of foreign body insertion. The 12 patients were brought to our OPD with history of a long standing unilateral nasal discharge. The 12 patients had presented with history of epistaxis. Eight patients had presented with headache and recurrent episodes of rhinorrhea. Two cases presented with symptoms of pain over the nasal bridge and swelling. In our study 86% of the patients were brought with a history of foreign body insertion and only 14% a foreign body was detected when the child had presented to the outpatient department with nasal complaints. Amongst the patients 88 of them (74%) had presented with foreign bodies in their right nostril.Conclusions: Any history of insertion of a foreign body inside the nose should be thoroughly investigated. Appropriate clinical examination and diagnostic nasal endoscopy (wherever indicated) should be done. Appropriate instrument should be selected and used for foreign body removal