Two patients with a perforation of the esophagus and hypopharynx, respectively, caused by a bone in their food
Van Looij, M.A.J.; Feenstra, L.
Nederlands Tijdschrift Voor Geneeskunde 147(15): 714-717
2003
ISSN/ISBN: 0028-2162 PMID: 12722535 Document Number: 558790
Two patients, men aged 58 and 28 years, developed pain in the throat while eating chicken and pork, respectively. In the emergency clinic and during a check-up on the following day, no foreign body could be found. On the third visit to the hospital, oesophagoscopy was performed. In one patient a chicken bone was found lying transversely in the oesophagus; after removal of this bone extraluminal pus was seen. In the other patient a pork bone was found in the right piriform recess, with a great deal of local pus. Both foreign bodies were removed during oesophagoscopy. The recovery of both patients was uneventful. A foreign body is found in the upper digestive tract in approximately one-third of the patients presenting to an emergency department with a history of foreign body ingestion. Serious complications occur in less than 1%; however, these complications can be life-threatening. If, based on the anamnesis, physical examination or radiological evaluation, there is suspicion of a foreign body in the oesophagus, or if the examination is incomplete, then oesophagoscopy should be performed.