[Fibroscopy and endobronchial foreign bodies (author's transl)]

The therapy to be used when an endobronchial foreign body is discovered on X-ray is still debated. Some recommend a bronchoscopy with a rigid tube, others favour a fibroscopy with flexible tube. We report four observations of endobronchial foreign bodies of different sizes extracted by fibroscopy with flexible tube and foreign body forceps. We underline from these observations the value of fibroscopy which enabled the extraction of far situated bodies which sometimes could not be removed by bronchoscopy with a rigid tube. Therefore, we strongly advise, when in presence of endo-bronchial foreign bodies, to use fibroscopy first.