Retrieval of foreign body from upper GI tract by flexible fibreoptic endoscope--an experience

Forty foreign bodies (29 located in oesophagus and 11 located in the stomach) were removed by means of a flexible fibreoptic endoscope over a period of two years. The foreign bodies consisted of coins, a pin, a needle, a big button, a key ring, a fish bone, a denture, some fruit seeds, a meat bolus, a lock, a golden chain, a diamond nose ring, an ear top and a nasal catheter. Age of the patients ranged from four months to eighty years. Anaesthesia was required in 5 paediatric patients. Thus this method was found to be a safe, rewarding and non-operative one.