Elderly and Children Are Not The Only Victims of Foreign Body Airway Obstruction in Italy (A National Media-Based Survey)

Choking is a relevant public health problem. Data in medical literature are scarce and fatal events are dramatically under-reported.The aim of this manuscript is to give a real estimation of this problem and to raise awareness about this topic.Materials and methods. All deaths caused by choking reported by Italian Mass Media over a two years period were collected. Suspected sudden infant death syndrome was an exclusion criteria.Results. 76 deaths due to foreign body airway obstruction were identified, 51% during 2018 and 49% in 2019, without identifiable time clusters. Choking affected every age, including pre-scholar children (25%), children 6 to 18 years old (3%), adults (38%), and elderly patients (34%). Witnessed cases were 61 (80%) but in almost half 26 cases (42%) the fatal event occurred before or without first aid maneuvers being performed.Conclusion. On the Italian territory, during a 2 years period, three cases per month of fatal choking due to foreign-body airway obstruction occurred, many of them in adult patients (38%). Italian people seem not to be educated to provide first aid in these settings.

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Revised First Aid for the Choking Child

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.78.1.177 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 78 (1) ◽

pp. 177-178

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Foreign Body ◽

Airway Obstruction ◽

Upper Airway ◽

Heart Association ◽

First Aid ◽

Red Cross ◽

Great Effort ◽

Amencan Academy ◽

Adults And Children ◽

Foreign Body Airway Obstruction

Aspiration of a foreign body is a common hazard in infancy and childhood. In the last 5 years, there has been a great effort to educate the public on the prevention of choking due to accidental inhalation of foods or small objects by children. Concomitantly, there has been a campaign to teach the first aid measures essential for evaluation and treatment of choking. LITERATURE REVIEW Much of the existing data on treating the choking child has been anecdotal. In 1981, the Committee on Accident and Poison Prevention of the Amencan Academy of Pediatrics reviewed the available literature; the Committee recommended that a foreign body in the upper airway be considered an immediate threat to life and that such a foreign body required urgent removal.1 In addition, the Committee recognized the effectiveness of natural coughing and recommended that, if a choking child could breathe and was able to speak and/or cough, all maneuvers were unneccessary and potentially dangerous. If the choking child could not breathe, cough, or make a sound, a series of back blows and chest thrusts was recommended. The Committee recommendations resulted in a spirited controversy concerning the most effective management of the choking child.2-6 At the July 1985 National Conference on Standards and Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiac Care, the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and the American Red Cross convened a panel on Management of Foreign Body Airway Obstruction to review and revise the past recommendations. The panel recommended use of the abdominal thrust—the Heimlich maneuver—as the exclusive method of treating foreign body airway obstruction for adults and children older than 1 year.

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