Emergency endoscopic management of dietary foreign bodies in the esophagus

Lin, Hsuan-Hwai; Lee, Shih-Chun; Chu, Heng-Cheng; Chang, Wei-Kuo; Chao, You-Chen; Hsieh, Tsai-Yuan

doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2006.12.012

« Previous Next »American Journal of Emergency Medicine
Volume 25, Issue 6 , Pages 662-665, July 2007

Emergency endoscopic management of dietary foreign bodies in the esophagus

Hsuan-Hwai Lin, MD
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
Shih-Chun Lee, MD
- Department of Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
Heng-Cheng Chu, MD, PhD
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
Wei-Kuo Chang, MD, PhD
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
You-Chen Chao, MD
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
Tsai-Yuan Hsieh, MD, PhD
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 287927409; fax: +886 287927139.

Received 4 November 2006; received in revised form 1 December 2006; accepted 1 December 2006.

Abstract

Objective

We report our experience of endoscopy in the emergency management of dietary foreign bodies.

Methods

One hundred thirty-six patients were admitted to the emergency department (ED) between January 1997 and October 2006 for the endoscopic removal of esophageal dietary foreign bodies. They had a mean age of 47.7 years, and 91 (67%) were women.

Results

Most of the ingested materials (98.5%) were successfully extracted using either flexible or rigid endoscope. The objects most frequently ingested were fish bones (48%) and chicken bones (46%). Most of the objects (84%) were lodged in the upper esophagus. Two patients with irretrievable foreign bodies or complicated perforations were taken to surgery.

Conclusion

Because most of these foreign bodies lodged in the upper esophagus, physicians should take care of this area to avoid secondary injury or complications, especially with sharp bones.