Introduction: Foreign body aspiration (FBA) is a common, life-threatening pediatric emergency and was shown to be associated with high risk of morbidity and mortality. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of chest computed tomography (CT) scan for identification of FBA in children.
Methods: From inception to May 2024, a systematic search was carried out across multiple databases including Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science, considering published papers in English language. Quality assessment of the included studies was performed using seven domains of Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2).
Results: The systematic literature search yielded 7203 articles. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of chest CT scan for identification of FBA were 0.99 (95% CI: 0.98-0.99) and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.96-0.98), respectively. The pooled positive likelihood ratio was 10.12 (95% CI: 4.59-22.20), and pooled negative likelihood ratio was 0.05 (95% CI: 0.02-0.1). Furthermore, the area under the summarized receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was 0.98.
Conclusion: Our meta-analysis revealed that despite high heterogeneity, in the diagnostic characteristics of chest CT scan among studies, it has high diagnostic value in identifying FBA in suspected pediatric cases.
Keywords: Foreign bodies; Meta-analysis; Pediatrics; Respiratory aspiration; Tomography; X-ray computed.