Main Theme: Innovation
Introduction: An aspirated foreign body in a child can represent a potentially life-threatening emergency.
Methods: This retrospective study, carried out from 2014 to 2024, compares the estimated effective radiation dose children received during ultra-low dose computed tomography (CT) scans with that received with traditional cumulative radiographic investigations.
Results: Of the 44 patients included in the study, 32 were in the radiograph group and 12 were in the CT group. There was a statistically significant reduction in the length of stay and cost in the CT group when compared with the radiograph group (p < 0.01). There was a statistically significant reduction in the cumulative estimated effective radiation dose in the radiograph compared to the estimated effective dose received in the CT group (p < 0.01). No patients required sedation for CT imaging.
Conclusion: Ultra-low dose CT is a safe, cost-effective first-line investigation in stable patients with suspected foreign body aspiration.