Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T09:13:36.391Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Oesophageal foreign body: an unusual cause of respiratory symptoms in a three-week-old baby

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

C. R. Chowdhury*
Affiliation:
British Military Hospital, Rinteln, Germany
M. C. M. Bricknell
Affiliation:
British Military Hospital, Rinteln, Germany
D. MacIver
Affiliation:
British Military Hospital, Rinteln, Germany
*
Lt Col. C.R. Chowdhury, F.R.C.S., Consultant in Otorhinolaryngology, Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital, Stadium Road, Woolwich, London SE18 4QH.

Abstract

Impaction of a foreign body in the oesophagus is common in children. If the event is not witnessed by an adult or the object is radiolucent the diagnosis is difficult as respiratory symptoms may predominate. We report a three-week-old child with respiratory symptoms who had both a respiratory syncytial virus infection and a radio-lucent oesophageal foreign body. This case is the youngest yet reported and serves as a reminder of the difficulties in the diagnosis of this important condition.

Type
Clinical Records
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ardran, G. M., Ellis, P. D. M. (1973) Oesophageal foreign body in an infant. Journal of Laryngology and Otology, 87: 691698.Google Scholar
Bannister, L. H., Dyson, M, Warick, R., Williams, P. L., eds. (1989) Gray's Anatomy. 37th edition. Churchill Livingstone: London, p. 1331.Google Scholar
Friedman, E. M. (1988) Foreign bodies in the pediatric aerodigestive tract. Pediatric Annals, 17: 640642.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, R. B. (1987) Esophageal foreign bodies. Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America, 5: 301311.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed