![]() | This article contains instructions, advice, or how-to content. (February 2020) |
Choking | |
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Other names | Foreign body airway obstruction |
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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]
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