Pharyngeal foreign bodies in infants persisting for two months: two case reports

Abstract

In general, patients who suffer from pharyngeal foreign bodies can explain the time and nature of the object which had been swallowed, resulting in easy diagnosis. However, in infants, difficulty in communication makes diagnosis troublesome. Two cases of long-standing pharyngeal foreign bodies were treated at our hospital. Case 1 was a 16-month-old girl complaining of stridor and fever. She had fallen with a toothbrush in her mouth two months before, and was hospitalized in the pediatrics department for one week with upper airway inflammation and dehydration. A toothbrush head was embedded in the back wall of the mesopharynx and hypopharynx. Case 2 was a 10-month-old boy complaining of dysphagia and failure in weight gain. He was hospitalized in the pediatrics department with pneumonia two months before. A PTP (press through pack for medicine) was embedded in the back wall of the hypopharynx. We removed both foreign bodies under general anesthesia.