Review of tracheobronchial foreign body aspiration in the South African paediatric age group

Children, and in particular young children under the age of three, are the most vulnerable for aspiration and ingestion of foreign bodies (FBs). The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town is the only children’s hospital in South Africa and is unique in having a dedicated trauma unit for children under the age of 13 as part of its institution. Core activities of Childsafe South Africa (CSA), located at the hospital, are data accumulation and interpretation, development of educational programmes, health inculcation and advising in legislation involving child health. To achieve this task, CSA works in close co-operation with government, industry, non-governmental and community predicated organisations, community groups and individuals. A database of all children treated for trauma at CSA has been maintained since 1991; it currently contains detailed information of over 170,000 injuries in children under the age of 13. This review consists of a literature review combined with data from our database and aims to provide information on our experiences with tracheobronchial aspiration of FBs in children.