An unusual tracheal foreign body - a case report

100 UnusualForeign Body i. It is flat in shape so that enough space is left at the side for adequate entry of air distal to the foreign body. ii. It has smooth, non-traumatizing ends so that the trauma & oedema of bronchial mucosa is minimum, iii. Held firmly at a site in the bronchus. iv. The high dose of Antibiotics given in this case could also account for the absence of signs & symptoms.

REFERENCES Photograph shows apparently normal Barium Swallow (Arrow Marks), The shadow caused by the wire of TME denture just anterior to TMG Oesophagus.

1.

Cohen S.R., Lewis G.B., Herbert W. I. (1980) : Foreign body in airway, 5 years retrospective study with special reference to management. Annals of otology Rhinology and Laryngology, 89,437.

3. Denture as a foreign body has not been reported in the literature.

2.

Denilidis J., Symenide B e t al (1977) : Foreign body in airway : A review of 90 cases, Archives of Otolaryngology 103,570.

3.

Harboyan and Nassif (1970) Tracheo bronchial foreign bodies : A review of 14 years of experience. Journal of Laryngology and Otology 8 0 , 4 0 3 .

Fig. II:

The foreign body in this case was silent. A non-vegetable foreign body can be silent if:-

AN UNUSUAL TRACHEAL FOREIGN BODY - A CASE REPORT Abdui Ahad 1, Abdul Majid 2, Nazor Ahmad 3, Naim Manhas 4

CASE R E P O R T A child of 6 years of age was brought to E.N.T. Department S.M.H.S. Hospital, Srinagar on 07-12-1992 with history of dry cough and hoarseness of voice. There was history of child playing with the insulator cover of electric wire as a whistle. Clinical examination revealed no signs of res-

piratory obstruction, or any abnormality pointing the presence of foreign body. The child was admitted and kept under observation. Routine h a e m o g r a m was done. Auscultation of chest revealed normal air entry on both sides. X-ray of chest and soft tissue neck lateral view revealed only a faint shadow of foreign body in the trachea with an

lprofessor and Head,2Asstt. Professor, 3Registrar, 4pG Student. Department of Otorhinolaryngology (ENT), Govt. Medical College, Srinagar.

An Unusual Tracheal Foreign~Body 101

air-column in its middle (Fig. I).

Fig. II/: Foreign body with hollow inside.

Fig. I : Chest X-ray showing shadow of foreign body (Arrowed).

Bronchoscopy was done under general anaesthesia. The upper part of the foreign body was visible in the subglottic area and was extending upto the carina. The foreign body was hollow from inside. The foreign body was removed which was an insulator cover of an electric wire. It measured about 1.5 inches in length and ~/a inch in width (Fig. II). It was hollow from inside (Fig. III). Patient was discharged on the 3 rd day.

this case, ~ e r e was no respiratory obstruction, because the foreign body:was hollow from inside and the patient could breath through it normally. CONCLUSION 1. Any child presenting with chest ailments, i_he possibility. of a foreign body in the tracheo~bronchial tree should be ruled out. 2. X-rays are usually not of much help in case of radio translucent foreign body. The purpose of this case report is to add to the list o f un • usual foreign bodies of tracheo- bronchial tree.

REFERENCES

Fig. II :

1.

Abdel-Salam A.S.A. and Alan G. Gibb: Undiagnosed bronchial foreign b o d y , golf tree. Journal of Laryngology and Otology~ June 1980 V. 94, 67l --675.

2.

Krishnarnurthy V. and N. Lakshminarayana: An injection needle in the right bronchi Indian Journal of Otolaryngology, Vol. 32, No. : 4, Dec. 1980.

3.

Parameswaran T.M. : Occult bronchial foreign bodies in chiI~ dren. Indian Journal of Otolaryngology Vol, 29, No. 1 March, 1977.

4.

Purohit G.N., Sharkhela. D. N. Iron Nail in the bronchus. Journal of Laryngology and Otology, V. 32 No. 4, Dec. 1980.

5.

Saxena R.K. : X-ray plate in the tracheobronchial tree. Indian Journal of Otolaryngology V. 30 No. 3 Sept. 1978.

Showing foreign body (Insulator cover of electric wire)

DISCUSSION V. Krishnamurthy and N. Lakshminarayana (1980) had observed that a foreign body occasionally may remain silent for a long period and may be suspected only on a routine radiological investigation like X-ray chest. Nature of foreign body is important for producing thd symptoms ; as in

Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Vol. 52 No. 1, December 1999 - March 2000