The new work method, developed by Dr. Inbal Golan Tripto, a pediatric pulmonary specialist in the department, allows doctors to detect foreign objects that children may have swallowed, without the use of an invasive procedure known as a bronchoscopy.
Because non-metallic foreign items cannot be detected on chest X-rays, when there is suspicion that children swallowed something that could be restricting their airways, they have to be placed under general anesthesia and a camera is inserted into the trachea.
Since trialing Dr. Tripto's methods in Soroka, over 100 children have been successfully tested and treated without the need for a bronchoscopy. Due to the initial success of the procedure, it will be put to use in other emergency rooms around the country in the near future.
“In the last year and a half, we have developed and introduced a uniform protocol into the work routine that determines how to act in case there is a suspicion of inhaling a foreign body into the lungs among children," Tripto said, explaining the procedure that she created and implemented.
The procedure has seen a 90% efficiency rate in detecting foreign items in the airways of children, and the number of bronchoscopies performed in 2020 significantly decreased from previous years as a result.
Speaking about the success of the new protocols, Pozilov said that: "The unique method of work we have developed saves anesthesia and invasive intervention, expensive hospitalization time and a large workforce, and significantly reduces anxiety among parents and children."