Abstract: Objective　To explore the clinical characteristics of bronchial foreign bodies in children. Method　The clinical data of 147 children with exogenous bronchial foreign body admitted between 2014 and 2016 were retrospectively analyzed, and the applications of rigid bronchoscopy and flexible bronchoscopy for foreign body extraction were compared. Results　All 147 cases were diagnosed with bronchial foreign bodies by chest CT, chest X-ray or respiratory endoscopy. In these cases (104 boys and 43 girls), 87.8% of whom were aged 1-3 years, the most common types of bronchial foreign body were nuts. The common complications were bronchial mucosal granulation tissue hyperplasia (88 cases, 59.86%), pneumonia (56 cases, 38.1%), atelectasis (15 cases, 10.2%), respiratory failure (14 cases, 9.52%) and bronchiectasis (4 cases, 2.72%) respectively. The foreign bodies were removed by soft bronchoscopy in 106 cases which were successfully removed at one time in 100 cases. Respiratory endoscopy was undergone in 141 cases to remove foreign bodies, and flexible bronchoscope was applied in 106 (72.11%) cases and foreign bodies were successfully removed in first attempt in 100 cases (94.34%). Rigid bronchoscope was used in 35 cases (23.81%) and foreign bodies were successfully removed in first attempt in 28 cases (80.0%). Conclusion　The majority of children with bronchial foreign body are male. Both flexible and rigid bronchoscopes can remove exogenous foreign bodies in the lower respiratory tract.

Key words: bronchial foreign body;　bronchoscope;　child