Fogarty Balloon Catheter as a Single Accessory for Retrieval of Airway Foreign Body in Pediatric Age-group—A Novel Technique: Single-center Experience from a Tertiary Care Center

Background: Airway foreign body (FB) aspiration represents a life-threatening emergency predominantly affecting children under 3 years.Rigid bronchoscopy has long been regarded as the gold standard for FB extraction.Flexible bronchoscopy combined with Fogarty balloon catheter dilatation offers a minimally invasive, cost-effective, and a safer alternative, particularly for organic or friable FBs.Objective: To evaluate the safety, efficacy, and clinical outcomes of flexible bronchoscopy utilizing Fogarty distal balloon dilatation technique in patients presenting with tracheobronchial FB aspiration at a tertiary care center.Patients and methods: This case series encompassed eight patients under 3 years of age with airway FBs treated between January 2023 and July 2025.All procedures were performed under either conscious sedation or general anesthesia using a supraglottic airway (I Gel) depending on patient age and cooperation, using flexible video bronchoscopy with Fogarty balloon catheters (sizes 4-5 French).Results: The cohort comprised eight patients: 7 males and 1 female (age range: 18-30 months).All aspirated FBs were organic in nature, including peanuts, areca nut, cashew nut, red lentil, and beans.Anatomical distribution revealed aspiration into the right main bronchus (n = 2), right intermedius bronchus (n = 1), left main bronchus (n = 3), left lower lobe bronchus (n = 1), and trachea above carina (n = 1).Complete successful extraction was achieved in all cases (100% success rate) without conversion to rigid bronchoscopy or surgical intervention.No instances of bronchial injury, significant bleeding, or pneumothorax were documented.Conclusion: Flexible bronchoscopy employing Fogarty distal balloon dilatation represents a safe, effective, and minimally traumatic technique for tracheobronchial FB retrieval, demonstrating particular utility for organic, friable objects lodged in airways.This approach circumvents many limitations associated with rigid bronchoscopy while maintaining high success rates and excellent safety profiles, thereby constituting a valuable addition to the interventional pulmonologist's armamentarium.