Management of ingested foreign bodies is a common clinical encounter.
Complications of this pathology are dependent on a patient's age, the nature and localization of the foreign body, the presence of a perforation, and initial management procedures.
Dr. Christian Righini from the University Medical Center of Grenoble advocates the use of the rigid endoscope which is placed just above the proximal tip of the foreign body where it dilates the esophageal lumen to the extent that the impacted foreign body is movable.
This recommendation is based on Righini's description of a case involving a 52-yr-old man, with no relevant past medical history who presented to the ENT clinic complaining of severe dysphagia, substernal pain, and fever five days after chewing on a piece of chicken. Imaging revealed a fragment of bone in the upper part of esophagus, air in the retropharyngeal space and the upper part of the posterior mediastinum, and deep subcutaneous collection suggestive of cervical posterior mediastinal collection. The patient was managed surgically through both an endoscopic approach and an open cervical approach.
The use of a rigid endoscope during removal of an impacted foreign body has several advantages: it causes expansion of the upper esophagus, which can release totally or in part the impacted foreign body, and prevents aspiration and esophageal or pharyngeal injury. It must be practiced under general anesthesia by a trained operator.