A double-blind, controlled study to assess the accuracy of interpretation of lateral soft tissue radiographs of 60 patients with suspected foreign body impaction in the oro/hypopharynx was carried out by 18 respondents from three different specialities. All the patients had endoscopy carried out and foreign bodies were present in 25. Of these, foreign bodies were diagnosed on the radiograph in only 38.3 per cent. False-positive diagnoses were made in a mean of 26.3 per cent of those patients who did not have a foreign body.