Symptoms of foreign body in baby's throat

Many children tend to be careless when they are young, especially when it comes to eating, many unexpected situations may occur. For example, if a child eats too quickly, food may get stuck in the throat. Therefore, most children have encountered foreign objects in their throats. Generally speaking, when a baby has an abnormality in his throat, there will be very obvious symptoms. Do you know the signs of a foreign body in a baby’s throat?

1. Foreign body entry stage: obvious coughing, wheezing, hoarseness

Babies often suddenly choke, have violent coughing fits and choke while eating, and may also experience wheezing, hoarseness, cyanosis and difficulty breathing. If it is a small, smooth, movable foreign body, such as melon seeds or corn kernels, you can hear the slapping sound of the foreign body hitting the glottis when the child coughs, and you can feel a vibration when you put your hand in front of the larynx and trachea. If the foreign body is large and blocks the trachea or is close to the bulge of the tracheal branch, the ventilation of the main bronchi on both sides may be seriously obstructed, resulting in severe breathing difficulties, even suffocation and death.

2. Quiet period: mild coughing and breath holding

If the foreign body is small and not very irritating, or if it enters the bronchus through the trachea, the symptoms of coughing and shortness of breath may be very mild or even disappear for a period of time, resulting in a longer or shorter asymptomatic period, making it easy to overlook the diagnosis. Generally speaking, foreign objects with a diameter less than 2 cm (about the size of a 1 yuan coin) and a length less than 4 cm can be excreted through feces unless they are sharp or corrosive.

3. Irritation or inflammation stage: swelling of the tracheal mucosa and persistent cough

Plant-based tracheal foreign bodies contain free acids, which have a significant irritating effect on the tracheal mucosa. Beans are foreign objects in the trachea. They swell after absorbing water, making it easy for airway obstruction to occur. The longer the foreign body remains in the airway, the more severe the reaction will be. It initially presents as an irritating cough, followed by symptoms of persistent cough, atelectasis or emphysema due to increased secretions in the trachea and swelling of the tracheal mucosa.