Open AccessSpontaneous Expulsion of a Sharp Foreign Body
Author(s) -
Syed M. Tariq,
Laura Succony,
Randhir S. Bhatia
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of bronchology and interventional pulmonology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.648
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1944-6586
pISSN - 1948-8270
DOI - 10.1097/lbr.0b013e31826c97d1
Subject(s) - medicine , foreign body , accidental , bronchoscopy , flexible bronchoscopy , rigid bronchoscopy , left main bronchus , right main bronchus , foreign body aspiration , bronchus , throat , surgery , foreign body removal , foreign bodies , general surgery , respiratory disease , lung , physics , acoustics
Accidental foreign body aspiration is more common in children than in adults. It is one of the most common causes of accidental death in young children. Retrieval of the foreign body by rigid or flexible bronchoscopy is successful in the majority of cases. We describe a case of a 14-year-old girl who inhaled a scarf pin. Flexible bronchoscopy was partly successful and managed to bring the pin up from a segmental bronchus into the left lower lobe bronchus and then into the throat. Unfortunately, it was reaspirated by the patient into the lower trachea. A rigid bronchoscopy under general anesthesia was planned; however, the patient managed to cough the foreign body out spontaneously, thus avoiding further interventions.