Choking

Choking
Choking
Other names	Foreign body airway obstruction
	A demonstration of abdominal thrusts on a person showing signs of choking
Specialty	Emergency medicine
Symptoms	Gasping, wheezing, cyanosis, difficulty speaking, involuntary coughing, clutching of throat, severe respiratory distress, stridor, tachypnea
Complications	Atelectasis, post-obstructive pneumonia, or bronchiectasis
Usual onset	Minutes to days
Causes	Foreign body aspiration
Diagnostic method	Based on symptoms, imaging, bronchoscopy
Treatment	Foreign body removal

Choking, also known as foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO), is a phenomenon that occurs when breathing is impeded by a blockage inside of the respiratory tract. An obstruction that prevents oxygen from entering the lungs results in oxygen deprivation. Although oxygen stored in the blood and lungs can keep a person alive for several minutes after breathing stops,^[1] choking often leads to death.

Around 4,500 to 5,000 choking-related deaths occur in the United States every year.^[2]^[3] Deaths from choking most often occur in the very young (children under three years old) and in the elderly (adults over 75 years).^[4]^[5] Foods that can adapt their shape to that of the pharynx (such as bananas, marshmallows, or gelatinous candies) are more dangerous.^[6] Various forms of specific first aid are used to address and resolve choking.

Choking is the fourth leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States.^[7]^[3] Many episodes go unreported because they are brief and resolve without needing medical attention.^[8] Of the reported events, 80% occur in people under 15 years of age, and 20% occur in people older than 15 years of age.^[7] Worldwide, choking on a foreign object resulted in 162,000 deaths (2.5 per 100,000) in 2013, compared with 140,000 deaths (2.9 per 100,000) in 1990.^[9]

^ Ross, Darrell Lee; Chan, Theodore C (2006). Sudden Deaths in Custody. Springer. ISBN 978-1-59745-015-7.
^ Chillag, Shawn; Krieg, Jake; Bhargava, Ranjana (2010-02-01). "The Heimlich Maneuver: Breaking Down the Complications". Southern Medical Journal. 103 (2): 147–150. doi:10.1097/SMJ.0b013e3181c99140. ISSN 0038-4348. PMID 20065901. S2CID 19387827.
^ ^a ^b Duckett, Stephanie A.; Bartman, Marc; Roten, Ryan A. (2023), "Choking", StatPearls, Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID 29763116, retrieved 2023-11-08
^ National Safety Council. Research and Statistics Department. (2015). Injury facts (2015 ed.). Itasca, IL. ISBN 9780879123345. OCLC 910514461.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Pavitt, Matthew J.; et al. (2017). "Choking on a foreign body: a physiological study of the effectiveness of abdominal thrust maneuvers to increase thoracic pressure". Thorax. 72 (6): 576–78. doi:10.1136/thoraxjnl-2016-209540. PMC 5520267. PMID 28404809.
^ Sayadi, Roya (May 2010). Swallow Safely: How Swallowing Problems Threaten the Elderly and Others (First ed.). Natick, MA: Inside/Outside Press. pp. 46–47. ISBN 9780981960128.
^ ^a ^b "Injury Facts 2015 Edition" (PDF). National Safety Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
^ Committee on Injury, Violence (2010-03-01). "Prevention of Choking Among Children". Pediatrics. 125 (3): 601–607. doi:10.1542/peds.2009-2862. ISSN 0031-4005. PMID 20176668.
^ GBD 2013 Mortality and Causes of Death Collaborators (17 December 2014). "Global, regional, and national age-sex specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013". Lancet. 385 (9963): 117–71. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61682-2. PMC 4340604. PMID 25530442. {{cite journal}}: |author1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[1] Ross, Darrell Lee; Chan, Theodore C (2006). Sudden Deaths in Custody. Springer. ISBN 978-1-59745-015-7.

[2] Chillag, Shawn; Krieg, Jake; Bhargava, Ranjana (2010-02-01). "The Heimlich Maneuver: Breaking Down the Complications". Southern Medical Journal. 103 (2): 147–150. doi:10.1097/SMJ.0b013e3181c99140. ISSN 0038-4348. PMID 20065901. S2CID 19387827.

[:22-3] Duckett, Stephanie A.; Bartman, Marc; Roten, Ryan A. (2023), "Choking", StatPearls, Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID 29763116, retrieved 2023-11-08

[:32-4] National Safety Council. Research and Statistics Department. (2015). Injury facts (2015 ed.). Itasca, IL. ISBN 9780879123345. OCLC 910514461.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[5] Pavitt, Matthew J.; et al. (2017). "Choking on a foreign body: a physiological study of the effectiveness of abdominal thrust maneuvers to increase thoracic pressure". Thorax. 72 (6): 576–78. doi:10.1136/thoraxjnl-2016-209540. PMC 5520267. PMID 28404809.

[6] Sayadi, Roya (May 2010). Swallow Safely: How Swallowing Problems Threaten the Elderly and Others (First ed.). Natick, MA: Inside/Outside Press. pp. 46–47. ISBN 9780981960128.

[:0222-7] "Injury Facts 2015 Edition" (PDF). National Safety Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.

[:023-8] Committee on Injury, Violence (2010-03-01). "Prevention of Choking Among Children". Pediatrics. 125 (3): 601–607. doi:10.1542/peds.2009-2862. ISSN 0031-4005. PMID 20176668.

[GDB20132-9] GBD 2013 Mortality and Causes of Death Collaborators (17 December 2014). "Global, regional, and national age-sex specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013". Lancet. 385 (9963): 117–71. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61682-2. PMC 4340604. PMID 25530442. {{cite journal}}: |author1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

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