Endoscopic management of foreign bodies from the upper gastrointestinal tract in the hills of Himachal Pradesh, India: A 5-year tertiary care experience

Background and Aim: Foreign body (FB) ingestion is a common clinical problem in medical practice. Endoscopy is the therapeutic method of choice for the management of FBs with minimal complications. The aim of this study is to report our experience and outcome in a 5-year period in dealing with FBs in the upper gastrointestinal tract (GIT) using upper endoscopy. Materials and Methods: The records of all the patients who presented to the Department of Gastroenterology and who underwent endoscopic management between January, 2010, and December, 2014, were reviewed with details on age, sex, type of FBs and its anatomical location, treatments, and outcomes. Results: A total of 59 patients were analyzed. Their age ranged from 2 years to 87 years. A male predominance was noticed (59.4%). Coins and chicken bone shared the most commonly encountered FBs. Esophagus was the most common site of trapping (49/59). Upper endoscopy successfully resolved the problem by FB removal in all patients, thus the overall success rate was 100%. No complications or mortalities due to FB ingestion or removal were observed throughout the study. Conclusion: In our experience, endoscopic management of FBs in upper GIT is a safe and highly effective procedure.