Background: Foreign body ingestion is a common occurrence in children and high risk groups of adults such as those with underlying esophageal disease, the mentally retarded, and those with psychiatric illnesses.

Materials and methods: For this existing data type study all patients who had referred during a 4-year period (1993-96) to Loghman Hakim and Taleghani hospitals with the diagnosis of esophageal foreign bodies were included.

Results: The study population included 77 children and 123 adults (89 females and 111 males). Most of the affected subjects aged 2-6 years. The most frequently ingested objects were coins (45.5%), bones (meat, chicken, fish) (33%), vegetable objects (8.5%), dentures (5%) and other metal and non metal objects (8.5%). The most prominent complaints were dysphasia with pain (54.5%), dysphasia without pain (21%), pain without dysphasia (8%), no dysphasia or pain (16.5%). Radiographic studies revealed soft tissue in neck region and foreign bodies in 84% of the cases. Rigid esophagoscopy was performed to remove the foreign bodies, however, in 12% of cases complications including bleeding of hypopharynx and esophagus (3%), tearing of mucous membrane (8.5%), perforation of esophageal wall and mediastinitis (0.5%) did occur. Conclusion: Early detection of esophageal foreign bodies is of utmost importance since their complications are serious and can be life-threatening.