Unusual Sites of Uncommon Endobronchial Foreign Bodies: Reports of Four Cases

• Published in: Scandinavian cardiovascular journal : SCJ Vol. 33; no. 5; pp. 309 - 311
• Main Author: Kasim Dogan, M. Kaptanoglu, A. Onen, Tonguc Saba
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Copenhagen Informa UK Ltd 1999; Oslo Taylor & Francis; Stockholm Scandinavian University Press
• Subjects: Adolescent; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Bronchi; Child; Female; Foreign Bodies; Humans; Inhalation; Injuries of the thorax. Foreign bodies. Diseases due to physical agents; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Trachea; Traumas. Diseases due to physical agents; Case study; Human; Respiratory disease; Migration; Bronchus; Bronchus disease; Foreign body
• ISSN: 1401-7431; 1651-2006
• DOI: 10.1080/14017439950141588

Foreign body aspiration occurs most commonly in children and can have serious consequences. In adults, it is associated with surgery, trauma and accidents. We report four unusual cases of foreign body inhalation. In one case a spike of wild barley entered the trachea through a tracheostomy cannula and migrated from the chest wall. In the second case a piece of coarse cloth which was introduced through a tracheostomy stoma aided by a wood sliver was retained in the trachea. In another patient an inhaled sewing needle migrated to the pericardium, and in the fourth case the head of a metal stud penetrated the trachea percutaneously through the neck and lodged in the right main bronchus. The incidence, causes, complications and management of such cases are discussed and the literature is briefly reviewed.