In the respiratory tract foreign body: what to do?

Every adult needs to know the basics of first aid to victims in various emergency situations. An educational subject such as life safety is taught in schools, starting from elementary grades. And even in kindergartens, preschoolers get acquainted with the basic rules of first aid. Nevertheless, it will not be superfluous for anyone to refresh knowledge. In our article, we will consider a situation in which a foreign body is in the respiratory tract. What to do in this case? We will talk about the symptoms of this condition, as well as the technique of first aid in this emergency situation.

How can a foreign body enter the respiratory tract?

According to statistics, cases are more often recorded when a foreign body is found in the respiratory tract of a child. Symptoms of this condition can be different, it all depends on how much the object blocked the air flow. But in any case, such a situation is extremely dangerous for the life and health of both the child and the adult.

Therefore, it is very important not to leave children under three years old without adult supervision - toddlers often try some kind of “find” that is called to taste. In addition, cutting teeth also contribute to the fact that children pull in their mouths the first objects caught.

In addition, babies often turn around, laugh, talk while eating, which can also lead to aspiration by a non-chewed piece of food. And the incompletely developed system of reflex processes in children younger than those years only contributes to worsening the situation, significantly increasing the risk of suffocation.

But doctors regularly encounter situations when foreign bodies enter the airways of an adult. Conditions that increase the risk of such situations are as follows:

• alcohol intoxication;
• communication, laughter while eating;
• defective prostheses;
  
• unprofessional provision of dental services (in medicine there are cases of suffocation with a removed tooth, removed crown, broken instruments).

What is the danger?

The ingress of foreign bodies into the upper respiratory tract of an adult or child is an emergency requiring emergency medical attention. Although examples are known in medical practice when a patient turned to doctors for help complaining of complicated breathing only a few months after a foreign object enters the body. But still, in most cases, the time to help and save a person is measured in seconds.

What happens in the body if a foreign body is in the respiratory tract? Unfortunately, medical statistics are disappointing. So, in almost 70% of all such cases, a foreign object reaches the bronchi, less often (about 20%) - it is fixed in the trachea and only 10% remain in the larynx (let's go ahead and say that it is in the latter case that the removal of a foreign body from the respiratory tract is the easiest paths, although there are exceptions to this rule).

The human reflex mechanism works in this situation as follows: as soon as the object passes through the glottis, muscle spasm occurs. Thus, even coughing heavily, it is extremely difficult for a person to remove a foreign body. Such a protective mechanism further complicates the situation and contributes to the development of suffocation.

Why are some cases not a high danger to human life and health, while others are, as they are called in medicine, emergency? This question is difficult to answer unequivocally - here a combination of different circumstances matters. Including such:

• properties of an object (its size, structure, weight, shape, etc.);
• the depth to which the foreign body could penetrate, the place of its fixation;
• the diameter of the remaining lumen in the airways - the possibility of gas exchange depends on this.
  

The most dangerous items

What is the danger of getting a foreign body into the respiratory tract? The decisive role is played by the structure of the foreign object. So, the larger it is in size, the higher the probability of overlapping space for air flow. But small items can cause serious problems. For example, even pieces of meat, sausage or boiled potatoes can provoke an attack of suffocation if they get into the spasmodic muscles of the vocal cords.

Uneven or sharp objects can not only “cling” to the walls of the trachea, but also injure it, which will lead to even greater complications.

Harmless nuts at first glance are dangerous because, having got into the respiratory tract, they can, due to the flow of air, mix from one zone to another, causing unexpected attacks of suffocation (a person didn’t eat anything and suddenly began to choke, and this situation can be repeated many times until removal of a foreign body from the respiratory tract).

But it’s just the objects that are usually considered the most dangerous - metal, plastic or glass (often children swallow toys with exactly these characteristics, for example, rattle balls, small parts of the constructor) - of all these possible foreign bodies, choking is least likely.

It should be noted that organic plant foreign objects in the respiratory tract are dangerous not only by the possibility of blocking the access of oxygen, but also by other complications:

• they tend to break into pieces, which can lead to numerous repeated attacks of suffocation;
• such bodies as a result of being in "greenhouse" conditions inside the body can swell, increasing in size, thereby gradually worsening the condition of a person;
• plant components as a result of organic processes lead to the formation of inflammation at the fixation site.

Thus, if there is a foreign body in the respiratory tract, then no matter how deep it has moved, it should be removed as soon as possible, since the consequences can be felt at any time.

The danger of this situation lies in its sudden occurrence and the rapid onset of suffocation. Here the effect of surprise is triggered - both the choked person and those around can simply become confused and start to panic. Unfortunately, such a reaction to an emergency can lead to a tragic outcome. Therefore, it is important not only to remember the technique of medical care in such cases, but also to be prepared psychologically to provide this very help at the right time.

It is especially important to react correctly when a foreign body is stuck in the respiratory tract of a child. Symptoms may be different, so it is important to recognize them in a timely manner and begin to assist the baby, because here the time is spent on seconds.

In order to reduce the likelihood of such situations, preventive measures should be followed, which are described in more detail in the corresponding section of the article.

To help a person who suffocates due to the penetration of a foreign object, it is extremely important to quickly "identify" the characteristic signs of such a condition. What are the symptoms of a foreign body in the airways? Read about it below.

Symptoms that indicate a foreign body entering the respiratory tract

How to understand that a person suffers from the fact that he has a foreign body in the airways? The signs of this condition are different and depend on the structure, size of the object, as well as the place where it was fixed.

So, a large object that completely blocks the access of oxygen causes a sharp cough, a person instinctively grabs his hands in the throat, after a few seconds, loss of consciousness, redness of the face, and then blue skin are possible.

If in the respiratory tract a foreign body is fixed in such a way that there is a small clearance for gas exchange, then the following are characteristic features of this condition:

• convulsive cough, often accompanied by vomiting or hemoptysis;
• violation of the rhythm of inhalation-exhalation;
• increased salivation;
• the appearance of tearing;
• short episodic attacks of respiratory arrest.

This condition can last up to half an hour - it is during such a time that the reflex protective functions of the body are depleted.

If small smooth objects have got into the respiratory tract of a person, there may be a complete absence of any signs of such a state for a certain period of time (it depends on where the object was recorded, of an organic or inorganic origin, a foreign body). But, unfortunately, if no measures are taken to remove a foreign object from the human body, it will not “resolve” itself, but will cause serious complications. After some time, the victim will have various breathing problems, such as shortness of breath, hoarseness in the voice and others. When listening with a stethoscope, noises will be heard in the area of ​​fixation of a foreign body.

Can I help myself?

Can I give myself first aid for a foreign body of the respiratory tract? It is possible. But here it is important to stock up on self-control and not give in to panic. Since there is very little time, you first need to calm down and not take sharp breaths (this will only aggravate the situation, because the air flow will simply push the subject deeper).

The algorithm for action in such an emergency is as follows:

1. Gently, slowly inhale, filling the chest as much as possible with air. Then exhale as sharply as possible, trying in this way to push the object that got into the throat.
2. Another way to help yourself remove a foreign body from the respiratory tract is to press the upper abdomen on the countertop or back of the sofa during a sharp exhalation.

Technique for the provision of first aid in the event of a foreign body entering the respiratory tract

Foreign bodies found in the airways? First aid in this situation should be provided as follows:

1. Call a team of doctors immediately.
2. Prior to the arrival of physicians, first aid should be provided according to the technique described below.

There are two ways to remove a foreign body:

1. Bend the victim through the back of a chair, chair or thigh of the person who is helping. Then, with an open palm, strike sharply between the shoulder blades 4-5 times. If the victim lost consciousness, then he should be laid to one side and stabbed in the back. This method is called in the medical literature the Mofenson method.

2. Another way is as follows: it is necessary to stand behind the panting, grab it with your hands under the ribs and produce sharp squeezing in the direction from the bottom up. This is the so-called Heimlich method.

If the above methods have not yielded results, and the patient’s condition worsens, you can also resort to the following medical care technique: lay the patient on the floor with a roller under his neck so that his head hangs down. You need to prepare a napkin, a piece of cloth or something like that. Then you need to open the mouth of the victim. Using the material, it is necessary to grab a person’s tongue and pull it up and down - perhaps this way a foreign body will become noticeable and it can be pulled out with your fingers. However, it is not recommended for non-professionals to perform such actions, since the technique requires special skills. And with improper assistance, you can further harm the victim.

Signs of foreign body aspiration in children

Adults can accurately understand and characterize their condition in the event of such a situation. But children sometimes even forget that they accidentally swallowed a wheel from a toy car or a part of a designer. If there is an aspiration of a large object that blocked the air, then the symptoms will be the same as described above: convulsive cough, vomiting, redness of the face, and then cyanosis of the skin.

But in the event that the foreign body has penetrated deeply, signs of this condition may be completely absent. In order to determine the presence of a foreign object in the airways of the crumbs, you need to ask him to talk with an adult. If the baby’s pronunciation of words is difficult, the whistling or “popping” sounds are heard, the child’s timbre or voice strength has changed - the baby needs urgent medical attention.

Foreign bodies of the respiratory tract in children: first aid

The technique of first aid for children is different from the “adult option”. This is due to the anatomical features of the structure of the growing organism. How to help a baby if there is a suspicion of such a pathology as foreign bodies of the upper respiratory tract? First aid in this situation is as follows:

1. If the child is younger than one year old, then it must be laid on the forearm so that the adult can hold the chin of the crumbs with his fingers. The baby's head should hang down. If the child is older than the specified age - he is laid on his knee.
2. Then you need to knock 4-5 times with open palms between the shoulder blades of the baby. The younger the child, the weaker the bumps should be.
3. If the specified technique has not yielded results, you need to lay the crumbs on your back and produce the so-called subphrenic tremors. In this case, you need to put two fingers (if the child is less than one year old) or put a fist (for children older than one year) on the stomach just above the navel and perform sharp pressure movements inwards and upwards.
4. If there is no improvement in the condition of the small patient, resuscitation measures (artificial respiration) should begin before the arrival of the ambulance.

Surgical methods for removing a foreign body from the human respiratory tract

What to do if the foreign body was not removed by the above methods? Then, most likely, surgical intervention is required. In order to determine what type of operation is necessary in a particular case, specialists conduct such studies as diagnostic laryngoscopy and fluoroscopy. Depending on the results, the doctor may prescribe the following manipulations:

1. Laryngoscopy Using this procedure, not only the presence of a foreign body in the larynx, trachea and vocal cords is determined, but also removed.
2. Upper tracheobronchoscopy using forceps. This procedure involves the introduction through the oral cavity of an endoscope, through which a special instrument is delivered that can remove a foreign body.
3. Tracheotomy is the surgical formation of an external opening in the trachea.

All described methods are dangerous for the development of complications both during their conduct and in the postoperative period.

Preventative measures

The diagnosis of “foreign bodies of the upper respiratory tract” is extremely dangerous and requires urgent medical attention. In order to reduce the likelihood of such an emergency, you should follow simple recommendations:

• While eating, do not talk, spin, watch TV. Children should also be taught such rules of behavior at the table.
• Do not abuse alcohol.
• Timely seek medical help in the presence of diseases of the oral cavity (including dental).
• Keep potentially hazardous items out of the reach of children.

This article provides recommendations on how to remove foreign bodies in the airways. First aid for both an adult and a child should be provided as soon as possible, in some situations there is simply no time to wait for the arrival of doctors. Therefore, the information presented in this article may be important and necessary for everyone.