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Upper oesophageal foreign body with acute respiratory distress

Amit Singh1, Shasanka Shekhar Panda, Meely Panda

  • 1Department of Pediatric Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India.

BMJ Case Reports
|July 9, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Foreign body ingestion in children is common, but esophageal foreign bodies causing severe respiratory distress are rare. This case highlights the critical need for prompt diagnosis and intervention in such pediatric emergencies.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Emergency Medicine
  • Otolaryngology
  • Gastroenterology

Background:

  • Foreign body (FB) ingestion is a frequent pediatric concern with diverse clinical presentations.
  • Esophageal FB impaction is an uncommon cause of severe acute respiratory distress in children.

Observation:

  • An 8-month-old female infant presented to the emergency department with severe respiratory distress.
  • Radiographic and endoscopic evaluation revealed a foreign body lodged in the upper esophagus.

Findings:

  • The pediatric patient experienced acute respiratory compromise attributed to an upper esophageal foreign body.
  • Urgent surgical intervention was necessitated by the critical airway obstruction.

Implications:

  • This case underscores the importance of considering esophageal foreign bodies in the differential diagnosis of pediatric respiratory distress.
  • Prompt recognition and management are crucial to prevent life-threatening complications in pediatric foreign body ingestion cases.

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