A Foreign Body Lodged in the Glottis of a Toddler for a Prolonged Time: Anatomical Considerations and Review of the Literature

Our scope is to present the unusual case of an impacted foreign body in a child's larynx for a prolonged period due to recurrent misdiagnosis and review the literature emphasizing the laryngeal foreign body.A toddler girl from a rural region was initially referred to a primary pediatric care ce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2023-08, Vol.15 (8)
Main Authors: Goulioumis, Anastasios K, Peridis, Stamatios, Koudmnakis, Emmanouel, Athanasopoulos, Ioannis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abscesses
Antibiotics
Asthma
Asymptomatic
Auscultation
Bronchoscopy
Children & youth
Dyspnea
Emergency medical care
Emergency Medicine
Endoscopy
Foreign bodies
Larynx
Otolaryngology
Pediatric Surgery
Pediatrics
Pneumonia
Remission (Medicine)
Steroids
Toddlers
X-rays
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Summary:Our scope is to present the unusual case of an impacted foreign body in a child's larynx for a prolonged period due to recurrent misdiagnosis and review the literature emphasizing the laryngeal foreign body.A toddler girl from a rural region was initially referred to a primary pediatric care center due to a sudden choking episode. The mother made an unsuccessful attempt to pull out a possible foreign body by blind finger sweeping. After 22 days of recurrent misdiagnosis and unsuccessful conservative therapies, the child developed hoarseness of voice and dyspnea during physical exertion. The patient underwent a flexible nasopharyngolaryngeal endoscopy, which observed a foreign body in the glottis, and an emergency microlaryngoscopy.Persistence of laryngeal symptoms in a child with a sudden choking episode should always raise the suspicion of a respiratory tract foreign body impaction. The most appropriate therapeutical approach is rigid bronchoscopy under general anesthesia.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.44489