Extraction of large foreign bodies from the airway by gastrointestinal endoscopy

Kuo-An Wu; Chia-Jen Hsiao; Chu-Ching Lee; Ting-Hsuan Su; Yung-Hsi Kao; Geng-Chin Wu

doi:10.1016/j.rmcr.2023.101907

Extraction of large foreign bodies from the airway by gastrointestinal endoscopy

Respir Med Case Rep. 2023 Aug 8:45:101907. doi: 10.1016/j.rmcr.2023.101907. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kuo-An Wu^{1

2}, Chia-Jen Hsiao³, Chu-Ching Lee¹, Ting-Hsuan Su¹, Yung-Hsi Kao², Geng-Chin Wu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Taoyuan Armed Forces General Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
² Department of Life Sciences, National Central University, Jhongli, Taoyuan, 32001, Taiwan.
³ Division of Gastroenterology, New Taipei City Hospital, Taiwan.

Abstract

Foreign body aspiration is a worldwide health problem that often results in life-threatening complications. Although flexible bronchoscopy is a safe procedure for removal of foreign bodies, it is usually unsuccessful in removing large foreign bodies from the airway. Gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy, which is frequently used to remove foreign bodies from the gastrointestinal tract, has not been reported for retrieval of airway foreign bodies. In this report, we described three successful cases of removal of large airway foreign bodies by GI endoscopy. To avoid rigid bronchoscopy, GI endoscopy can be considered if flexible bronchoscopy has failed to remove a large or heavy airway foreign body in adult patients.

Keywords: Flexible bronchoscopy; Gastrointestinal endoscopy; Large airway foreign body.

Publication types

Case Reports