Migrating foreign bodies in the upper aerodigestive tract: a surgical challenge

Migrating foreign bodies in the aerodigestive tract are uncommon but can pose serious complications. Long-standing migrating foreign bodies can exist manifesting chronic and unusual symptoms such as chronic cough, recurrent episodes of dyspnoea and fever. Adverse body reactions to foreign objects such as adhesions can cause difficulty in their diagnosis, localisation and removal. A thorough clinical and radiographical approach is of immense value in such cases. We report two difficult cases of migrated foreign bodies: a 2-year-old child with a long-standing foreign body that migrated to the upper mediastinum, and an adult patient with a fish bone that migrated to the oropharyngeal muscles. Presentations of these cases were not alike, with chronic unusual recurrent symptoms in one and typical acute symptoms in the other. The diagnosis and precise localisation of both foreign bodies was challenging, and an open approach was employed to remove them.