Vaginal foreign bodies in children: a single-center retrospective 10-year analysis.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical features and outcome in girls with a vaginal foreign body. METHODS: The clinical data of 97 girls with a vaginal foreign body were collected between 2010 and 2020. The descriptive analysis was used to summarize the clinical characteristics. RESULTS: The patients were aged between 1.5 and 14.8 years, and the age of peak incidence was shown to be 3-10 years, which accounted for 88% of the cases. Blood-stained vaginal discharge or vaginal bleeding was the most common symptom (48%). The most common foreign bodies were small hard objects (57%), followed by bits of cloth or toilet tissue (22%). The patient whose foreign object was a disk battery had the most severe symptoms. When an injury of the vaginal mucosal was suspected, antibiotics were used to prevent infection, with full recovery of all patients without any additional treatment after removal of the foreign object. CONCLUSION: If there is no damage to the vaginal mucosa, no additional treatment is needed after the foreign body is removed. When a vaginal foreign body is suspected to be a battery, emergency surgery is needed to prevent further damage.