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Foreign body aspiration in Israeli children during the COVID-19 pandemic
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  • Inbal Golan-Tripto,
  • Reuven Tsabari,
  • Elie Picard,
  • Patrick Stafler,
  • Keren Armoni Domany ,
  • Aviv Goldbart,
  • Micha Aviram,
  • Dvir Gatt,
  • Romi Bari,
  • Sergey Tsaregorodtsev,
  • Chilaf Peled,
  • Pesah Melnik,
  • Ronen Bar-Yoseph ,
  • Guy Gut
Inbal Golan-Tripto
Soroka University Medical Center

Corresponding Author:inbalgt@clalit.org.il

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Reuven Tsabari
Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics
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Elie Picard
Shaare Zedek Medical Center
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Patrick Stafler
Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel
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Keren Armoni Domany
Edith Wolfson Medical Center
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Aviv Goldbart
Ben Gurion University of the Negev and Soroka Medical Center
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Micha Aviram
Soroka Medical Center
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Dvir Gatt
Ben Gurion University of the Negev and Soroka Medical Center
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Romi Bari
Soroka Medical Center
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Sergey Tsaregorodtsev
Soroka Medical Center
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Chilaf Peled
Soroka Medical Center
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Pesah Melnik
Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel
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Ronen Bar-Yoseph
Rambam Health Care Campus
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Guy Gut
Tel Aviv Medical Center
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Abstract

Background: Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there has been a decline in pediatric emergency department visits. Our aim was to assess the pattern of pediatric foreign body aspiration (FBA) during the first year of the COVID-19, in comparison to the prior years. Methods: In this retrospective multicenter study, we compared the number of children that presented with FBA during the COVID-19 year (March 1st, 2020 to February 28, 2021), to the annual average of the years 2016-2019. We also compared the lockdown periods to the post-lockdown periods and the percentage of missed FBA, proven FBA, and flexible bronchoscopy as the removal procedure. Results: 345 children with FBA from six centers were included, 276 in the pre-COVID-19 years (average 69 per year) and 69 in the COVID-19 year. There was no difference in the prevalence of FBA between the COVID-19 year and any of the prior four years. Examining the lockdown effect, the monthly incidence of FBA dropped from a pre-COVID-19 average of 5.75 cases to 5.1 cases during lockdown periods and increased to 6.3 cases in post-lockdown periods. No difference in the percentage of missed FB or proven FB was observed. There was a significant rise in the usage of flexible bronchoscopy as the removal procedure (Average of 15.4% vs 30.4%, p=0.001) Conclusion: There was no difference in the prevalence of FBA during the COVID-19 year. However, there were fewer cases during lockdown periods, compared to post-lockdown periods, presumably related to better parental supervision.
14 Dec 2021Submitted to Pediatric Pulmonology
17 Dec 2021Submission Checks Completed
17 Dec 2021Assigned to Editor
10 Jan 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
13 Feb 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
21 Feb 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Major
29 Mar 20221st Revision Received
29 Mar 2022Submission Checks Completed
29 Mar 2022Assigned to Editor
29 Mar 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
22 Apr 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
24 Apr 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
22 Jul 20222nd Revision Received
22 Jul 2022Submission Checks Completed
22 Jul 2022Assigned to Editor
22 Jul 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
27 Aug 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
27 Aug 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
29 Aug 20223rd Revision Received
01 Sep 2022Submission Checks Completed
01 Sep 2022Assigned to Editor
01 Sep 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
27 Sep 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
08 Oct 2022Editorial Decision: Accept
27 Oct 2022Published in Pediatric Pulmonology. 10.1002/ppul.26203