Removal of foreign bodies (two teeth) by fiberoptic bronchoscopy

In special situations the flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope, with its increased visual range and extended capabilities for extraction, may be utilized to augment rigid bronchoscopy. Recently developed tools for extraction (claw, basket, forceps, and balloon catheter) may be inserted through the channel of the fiberoptic bronchoscope to capture small, peripheral foreign objects. We present the case of a 76-year-old man in whom two aspirated teeth were removed from the right lower lobe (RB9a and RB9b) using the fiberoptic bronchoscope, a wire basket, and a Fogarty balloon catheter. Rigid tube bronchoscopy was contraindicated because the patient had just sustained a fractured skull and jaw in an automobile accident.