Open AccessTwo cases of aspiration of calcium tablets
Author(s) -
Josef Micallef,
Stephen Montefort,
Charles Mallia Azzopardi,
Joseph Galea
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
lung india
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.457
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 0974-598X
pISSN - 0970-2113
DOI - 10.4103/0970-2113.85700
Subject(s) - medicine , choking , aspiration pneumonia , surgery , bronchoscopy , pneumonia , inhalation , anesthesia , anatomy
Two clinical cases of aspiration are reported in elderly ladies with differing presentations following inhalation of the same brand of calcium tablet. One of the patients distinctly recalled the choking episode, whereas the other failed to do so making the diagnosis of aspiration difficult. One of the aspirated tablets was successfully retrieved during rigid bronchoscopy after the patient reported several months of cough requiring multiple courses of antibiotics. The other aspirated tablet was coughed up by the patient after the successful treatment of a pneumonia complicated by a parapneumonic effusion.