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CAUSES OF CHOKING IN CHILDREN.

Accidental choking is an important cause of death in young children. This study describes foreign bodies in children's aerodigestive tracts that caused choking.

The authors analyzed data from two sources. The first was a five-year retrospective survey from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of 165 children who underwent bronchoscopy or esophagoscopy to remove foreign bodies. Sixty-nine percent of the children were age 3 or younger, and 58 percent were boys. Of 61 cases of airway obstruction, 59 percent were caused by food; none were caused by coins. And among 104 obstructions in the pharynx and esophagus, 57 percent were coins, and only 14 percent were food.

The second source comprised Consumer Product Safety Commission data for a 20-year period on choking deaths due to man-made objects. Of 449 recorded deaths, two thirds occurred in children under age 3. The most frequent causes of death were balloons (29 percent), balls and marbles (19 percent), and a variety of other toys (20 percent). Only 32 percent of choking deaths were from products not intended for use by children.

Comment: Balloons are the most frequent cause of choking death in children. Proposed measures to make them safer include changing from latex to mylar balloons or to inflatable paper, establishing a minimum size for balloons, and inserting a plastic ring inside them. Or, to prevent children from putting them in their mouths, materials such as "bittering agents" could be incorporated into balloons.

— RA Dershewitz

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine January 2, 1996

Citation(s):

Rimell FL et al. Characteristics of objects that cause choking in children. JAMA 1995 Dec 13 274 1763-1766.

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Baker SP and Halperin K. Designing the death out of balloons. JAMA 1995 Dec 13 274 1805-1805.

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