Foreign bodies in the tracheobronchial tree in Sudanese patients.

A prospective study of patients with foreign bodies in the tracheobronchial tree attending Khartoum North Teaching Hospital was carried out. The duration of the study was 3 years. The number of patients studied was 46. The majority were toddlers aged between 18 months and 2 years. There was no sex predominance. The most frequently encountered foreign bodies in the bronchi were ful sudani (peanut, Arachis hypogea), and tasaly seeds (water melon, Citrillus vulgaris). The foreign bodies were found more commonly in the right bronchus in 87% cases. Negative roentogenogram did not exclude presence of foreign bodies in the bronchi. Persistence of symptoms and signs were taken as the indication for the bronchoscopy. The mortality rate in this series was 4.3%.