Biomedical Research

Unintentional ingestion of foreign objects is especially common in children. In adults, foreign bodies are often swallowed with food spontaneously. Abdominal pain may be the main symptom. Endoscopy enables successful extraction without complications. We report extraction of esophageal foreign bodies including a chicken bone penetrating the esophageal walls bilaterally. A 84 y old female was admitted to our division with the chief complaint of retrosternal pain for 3 d. Upper endoscopy was performed at our center and a chicken bone was found penetrating the esophagus bilaterally. We removed this foreign body endoscopically and closed the perforations with a transparent cap and two titanium clips. We administered intravenous antibiotics, proton pump inhibitors and parenteral nutrition. The patient was discharged and fully recovered few days later. Perforation by foreign bodies is rare, but associated with lethal complications. Diagnosis of foreign body ingurgitation must be followed by emergency evaluation. Any perceived risks of aspiration and perforation warrant emergency intervention. Briefly, no foreign objects or food bolus should be allowed to remain in the esophagus 24 h after diagnosis. Our case study reveals that titanium clip is an inexpensive, safe and tolerable intervention for patients with perforation. We demonstrate the use of this method to treat small esophageal perforations caused by foreign bodies within 5 d of injury.

Author(s): Feihu Bai, Xiaogang Liu, Lirong Mo, Pengfei Liu, Xixi He, Ruijuan Xin, Rong Zhang, Yaping Zhu
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