Citation

Hon KL, Ku ASW. Hong Kong Med. J. 2019; 25(5): 413.

Affiliation

Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Hong Kong Academy of Medicine and the Hong Kong Medical Association)

DOI

10.12809/hkmj197998

PMID

31761756

Abstract

... Ingestion-associated adverse events can arise from many different scenarios and may result in mortality and high morbidity.2 3 4 5 We have previously reported that these children are usually healthy, and that all age-groups can be affected.2 3 Solids are usually associated with symptoms from local obstruction or suffocation, whereas fluids may be associated with systemic manifestations and anaphylaxis. Presentations are generally acute, dramatic, and unmistakable. The majority of patients made a prompt and uneventful recovery and had only a short stay in an intensive care unit, especially if emergency care was promptly provided.

The tragic cases unfortunately often occur in previously healthy children. Although prevention is feasible (not eating while talking and walking), choking and suffocation are eminently treatable by a simple manoeuvre. People who see the unmistakable neck-clutching sign of choking can help by performing the Heimlich manoeuvre. To perform this, stand behind the individual in distress, make a fist, position it over the stomach of the individual, and pull sharply inward and upward on the abdomen until the object is ejected. The 2019 case illustrates that this simple life-saving procedure was not available in a timely manner. There is a lot of room for public education.

Effective strategies in the prevention of choking should include cultivating/developing the habit of not eating while talking and walking at individual, family, and public health levels. Studies have shown that children aged <3 years remain at greatest risk of food injury and death ...

Language: en