A new protocol developed in the Pediatric Department at Soroka-University Medical Center could reduce the number of invasive tests and procedures that patients, particularly children, have to undergo.
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.
The procedure was monitored by pediatrics specialist Dr. Shani Pozilov, who subsequently won two awards from the Israel Society of Clinical Pediatrics for outstanding research work in 2020 and 2021.
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."